A Little Too Late
by ramblingsdaily
Summary: Everything happens a little too late at certain moments in life - something Penelope Garcia and Luke Alvez has learned the hard way. Feelings are ignored for their own benefit until the team start working on a new case together, they get blindsided when one of them gets kidnapped. And when a former team member returns, the old and the new doesn't seem to get along.
1. Chapter One

The brief moment of humiliation came a few seconds too late. As the blinding colorful lights inside the nightclub shine against their faces, Penelope Garcia immediately covered her red, drunken face. "I didn't mean it like that," she waved her hands up in the air in front of them. "He's just unbelievably annoying at times."

Emily Prentiss laughed as she took a long sip of her martini. "Who are you talking about?" Her eyes scanned the nightclub, young active college kids were all over the dance floor. She has learned that she has gotten too old to be dancing like how they were. "Jennifer, do you know who she's talking about?" She exchanged smirks with her as they both teased Penelope as if they don't know what they're talking about.

Jennifer shrugged her shoulders while drinking her beer. "Absolutely no idea." The music in the nightclub started changing into one of those horrific loud EDM music. "Oh God, I forgot how music has changed so much over the years."

"You make us sound so old, JJ." Emily laughed. Her smile faded once she saw Penelope's scorn expression. "Sweetie, he's only annoying to you. JJ and I actually do find him pleasing to be with. He's a wonderful addition to the team." It's been months, exactly seven months since Luke Alvez has joined the team. With his background in the Task Force and his knowledge on how fugitives think, he has been such a helpful addition. There is no doubt that he belongs with the team. The fact Penelope still feels this sort of resentment can only because she misses Derek Morgan, her bestfriend. "And sometimes, he's always a good eye candy to look at." Emily admitted with a smirk.

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Derek is a hundred times better looking than Alvez."

"They both are," JJ said. "But don't you think Will is better?"

Emily lets out a laugh. "Ah, I keep forgetting that we have a married woman with us. No one can be compared to her husband."

"I admit that Alvez is definitely eye candy but it doesn't matter. He'll leave soon." Penelope said while finishing off her martini.

"Leaving?" JJ knit her eyebrows in confusion as she turned to Emily. "He's being transferred?"

Emily shook her head. "No. As Unit Chief, I would know something about it. As of right now, there is no information about transferring him anywhere." She looked at Penelope, eyeing her with a joking glare. "Don't think about doing anything within the system with your computer skills."

Penelope gasped as if she was offended. "Fine."

JJ laughed. "I have to get home. Will's been watching the kids for a week. Should get home so he can have his rest." She got up from the booth and groaned. "Wow. We must be old. I only drank twice and I can feel it already."

"Bye." Penelope waved. "What are we going to do now? Girl's night with only two people? Doesn't seem like it'll be any fun."

"Of course not." Emily got up and exhaled. "It's close to two in the morning, P. We have work tomorrow, don't forget." She grabbed hold of Penelope's arm to pull her up. "Come on, you drank less than me. You're driving."

. . .

 **Monday 8:00AM**

"What do we have?" David Rossi asked as he walked into the conference room with a cup of coffee in hand.

Penelope turned the monitor on before she closed her eyes. "Local." Clicking on a button from the remote, five different images of five different people appeared on screen. "Each body were found a month apart from each other. Severely dehydrated and I don't know if you can tell the difference," she pulled up five different images of the victims. "Before and after."

Spencer Reid looked up at the screen. "Fragile and weak, skinny to the bones. Whoever did this didn't feed them." He looked at his own tablet, skimming through the images in a matter of seconds. "No torture, nothing. The only harm that was done is starvation?"

"That's rare." Emily pointed out. "Unsub doesn't get off on harming but watching the victims slowly die in a month?"

"This doesn't make sense," Spencer said. "An average person can only survive without food for two weeks before dying. Two or three days without water. If the Unsub is holding these victims captive, there had to be food or drinks assumed by the victims."

JJ nodded her head in agreement. "How long were they missing when they're bodies came up?"

"First victim, missing on June 8th. Her body was found near a dumpster on July 8th." Penelope looked at everybody as they went over the files. "Second victim, missing on July 10th. Found her body a mile away from the first victim on August 10th." She cleared her throat once she cleared the images off the screen. "You can guess the pattern for the other three victims."

Luke narrowed his eyes at the fifth victim. "And if my guess is right within this consecutive pattern," he glanced up with a displeased expression on his face. "We only have two days before he finds another victim."

. . .

Penelope groaned as she turned off the lights in the conference as she made her way down the steps. Why did she choose to wear such high heels on this chaotic day? When they have cases locally near them, it becomes hectic and almost exhausting for everyone. And considering that she is as helpful as she is with them, the team usually call her to run errands here and there. Which she doesn't mind but with these heels? She is going to definitely be in pain. "JJ, be safe." JJ and Luke are heading off to the most recent crime scene together. "I always hate it when you go near those places."

JJ smiled while pulling Penelope into a hug. "Don't worry, we'll be back in an hour or so."

Luke smirked. "No comment on me?"

"Listen to me very carefully, Newbie." Penelope walked closer to him, closing whatever distance they had within each other. "Goodbye."

JJ hilariously laughed as she gathered her jacket. "Come on, Alvez."

Luke chuckled and nodded his head. "See you later, Garcia."

"See you not." Penelope retorted. She turned around to see Spencer staring at her. "What? Why are you looking at me like that, boy wonder?"

Spencer shrugged his shoulders. "It's been exactly seven months, fourteen days and two hours since Luke Alvez joined our team. That's seven months, fourteen days and two hours since you've been resenting him." He looked at his friend, someone who he knows and understands so well after the many years of being colleagues. Penelope Garcia doesn't have an ounce of ability or will to hate or resentment towards anyone. "Or should I say, it's been seven months - "

"Baby," Penelope held her hand to stop him from repeating the dates again. "What are you trying to get at?"

"I don't know much of relationships but it has become obvious that you like him." Spencer smiled. "You probably liked him since first two weeks he was here."

Penelope glared at her good friend. "I love you, wonder boy but don't push my buttons. You're being unreasonable."

"Actually, a person can't be defined as unreasonable without reasonable facts." Spencer corrected her while taping the images of the victims onto a board. "With actual facts that I've gathered from the way you glance at him, the way you talk sourly at him but still smiles - it has become evident that you obviously like him." He turned back around to look at Penelope but he quickly cleared his throat once he saw her expression. "I'll shut up now."

Rossi walked over and briefly smiled at his team. Knowing very well if he said something, Garcia would give him the same angry expression. Choosing to save his own life, he simply sat down on a desk and study the images as they displayed. "Feels as though the Unsub is getting off on watching these people slowly die on their own." He held a pen in his hand, pointing out the victims wrists. There were visible tan lines and bruises on every single one of them. "Restraints. Which can only mean they were held against something during the span of their captivity."

Reid skimmed through the evidence folder. "No wires or ropes were found near the bodies on any of the victims. The Unsub probably cut it off before he dumped the bodies."

Penelope shuttered. "Yeah, I'm not staying for this." She walked by every other agents through the bullpen and straight into her safe heaven she calls 'office'.

. . .

 **Monday 11:37AM**

"What time did the witness discover the victim?" JJ questioned as she checked out the dumpster.

"Close to midnight," The sheriff answered while taking off his sunglasses. "Poor woman was just there. Looks as if she hasn't gotten enough sun in days."

Luke walked over. "One month. No sunlight or fresh air in one month." He furrowed his eyebrows together. "A mile and half away from this location is where the fourth victim was found. This Unsub has to live nearby if he is dumping each body by a mile or so apart from one another."

JJ looked up at the surveillance cameras. "We're going to need those cameras and every single footage from the other dump sites. Our tech analyst can check them out in no time."

"We have our own computer guy in the local station," the sheriff suggested as he looked at the two agents. "He handles most of the cases involving necessary needs for footages. He's been helpful throughout the year. Maybe he can check those out."

Luke shook his head. "Our tech analyst is one of the best, no offense to your guy. It'll be better if you hand it over to ours."

"How good is this guy?" The sheriff asked doubtfully.

JJ smiled. "Real good." She opened the driver's side door of their SUV. "Not to be messed with."

"And she's a woman." Luke finished off before getting into the passenger seat.

"That was a first." JJ said as she backed the car from the alleyway and onto the streets. She slowed the car down in front of the traffic lights, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel.

Luke looked up from the folders. "What was a first?"

"Someone asking to take care of the footages instead of handing it to Garcia." JJ made a turn into the highway. "If she found out about it, she'll start wondering if her skills aren't up to par and start thinking of it as a challenge."

"Is she always that competitive?" Luke asked, curious on why everything must be taken as a challenge. Just a few days ago, he had watched Penelope, JJ and Reid screaming over each other during a game of cards. And if he remembered right, it was only a game of goldfish. He had only assume that because the three of them are so close, it's only understandable that competitiveness is easily contested between them.

JJ briefly glanced at Luke before slightly laughing. "Not always but on certain things where she knows she can do better on, she'll be competitive." She eyed him suspiciously with a small smile. "You've been curious about her a lot lately. This is like your eighth question about her that you've asked me."

"Of course I am curious," Luke defended himself. "It's been seven months and she's the one team member that I have no idea about. I practically have profiled all of you with the exception of Penelope Garcia." He opened a different folder, concentrating on the words he sees but he knew they weren't going directly to his brain. "What other reason would I be curious about her for?"

 _Gosh, that sounds awfully familiar_ , she thought to herself. JJ kept the other thoughts to herself as she remembered clearly that last night at the nightclub, Penelope was going crazy with twenty questions on Luke. If these two keep on denying their interest on each other, the team is bound to do something. If there is a possibility that they don't like each other, they certainly have a funny way of showing it. "I don't know," she finally answered him. "I don't know, Alvez."

. . .

 **Monday 10:09PM**

Rossi walked back and forth around the bullpen as he continued to stare at the board. "Has Garcia found any connections between the five victims?"

"Other than the fact that they're all women, no." Spencer replied as he took a sip of his freshly brewed coffee.

"Oh, I beg to differ!" Penelope rushes over to the middle of the bullpen, stacks of printed papers in her hand. Handing them one by one to the members, she pointed over to the first victim. "Danielle Thomas, a highly respectable executive in a bank." Pointing over to the second and third victim, she looked at them. "Shonda Andrews, the youngest employee to be chief of design in magazine company. Holly Rhimes, who was up for her fourth promotion in the second year of working for a paper company."

"The Unsub clearly has a problem with women who are high on work rank," Rossi said once he saw what the other two victim's jobs were. "His ego must've been hurt in a work environment or someone in his personal life must've been earn a lot more than he did."

Emily walked over just in time. "He feels inferior to women and starves them to death as if they don't deserve it." She shook her head in a disapproving matter. "We need to find out who this Unsub is before he takes his next victim." Looking over at her favorite computer genius in the world, she hoped for only good news. "Please tell me you are narrowing down on who it possibly can be."

Penelope shook her head. "Nothing, I got nothing! These women were like work animals, it's no wonder why they were so respected and got so many promotions. Besides being at work and home, these girls really didn't live an outside life."

Rossi arched an eyebrow as he exhaled. "You know that saying, _all work and no play_."

" _All work and death_ for these women should be more of an accurate saying." Emily stated. "We've been on this case for twelve hours now." Stretching her arms out as she yawned, she smiled at her friends. "Get some rest and be back here first thing in the morning."

JJ and Luke walked through the doors with take out bags in their food. "Dinner?"

Rossi nodded his head. "Finally, there's actual food besides those lame microwavable dinners." Cleaning up his desk to make some room, he helped JJ hand out the food. "It'll be better if Lewis and Walker were back from their training session."

"I know," Emily laughed. "They'll be back in no time."

Penelope watched silently as meat were taken out continuously from the bags and spread out for everybody. She was about to leave to get her own dinner when Luke placed a bowl of vegetable noodles in front of her. "What is this?"

"Your dinner." Luke simply said. "JJ informed me that you don't eat meat so I can only assume that this would be more of your liking." He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "Only a nice gesture."

"I don't need any of your nice gestures." Penelope retorted before opening the lid and quietly eating the noodles. Noticing the glances from everybody else, she groaned. "I mean, thank you for the food... _newbie_."

Emily smiled as she ate her food. "You two are getting funnier each day."

"Funnier?!" Luke and Penelope exclaimed loudly.

Spencer blocked his ears while the chopsticks were in his mouth. "Same reaction, same denial."

"Same reaction, same denial?" Penelope repeated while glaring at Spencer, pointing her own chopsticks at him. "Boy wonder, if you keep on mouthing out nonsense. I won't go to the next comics convention with you."

His eyes widened. "If you don't go, I won't have anyone else willing to go with me." Spencer took a deep breath, deciding it's better to keep his mouth shut for the time being. The last time he went against Penelope's scary words, he ended up going to a book convention by himself and she didn't talk to him for days. It took him two cat plushy and a flowery pen to convince her to go on the last day with him.

JJ arched an eyebrow out of amusement. "I'll go to the convention with you. Henry has been so affected by the two of you that comics are the only things he's reading lately." How she made Penelope and Spencer the godmother and godfather of her children makes her wonder sometimes. "Be free and speak, Reid."

Spencer laughed when a chopstick was thrown in his direction to keep him from talking. "The food's really good. Where'd you get it?"

. . .

 **Tuesday 12:15AM**

Emily stood by the doorway with her bags in one hand and a stack of folders in another. "Do you want me to wait out for you, P?"

"It's okay." Penelope smiled as she finished off the rest of her research for a different team of agents. "My car's up and working so you don't have to drop me off."

"Alright. See you bright and early tomorrow, P." Emily rushed out of the office and walked straight into the elevator.

JJ and Spencer bid goodbye to Penelope as they walked out of the office. For weeks, they've been carpooling together since he hasn't renewed his license in time and is still waiting for the new one to come in mail. Luke zipped his backpack and looked into Penelope's office. "Bye, Miss Garcia."

"See you later, newbie." She halted her steps around the computers and looked up to stare at Luke. "You know whatever nonsense the team is thinking of, it's not true. I do respect you as a member of our team. No other attachments."

Luke simply smiled. "Of course." If he were to be honest, he isn't sure that he can say the same. There's a lot of confusion on how he feels but he knows that for some reason, Penelope amuses him and keeps him level headed during work. It's hard to make him smile a lot while his head is always 100% into the workload but someway, somehow - she always manages to make him smile. "See you tomorrow."

Penelope focused on her computers since it was acting up a little earlier while they were eating dinner. It doesn't happen a lot but when it does, all she has to do is reboot the system and just wait.

"Miss Garcia, you're still here."

She jumped from the unfamiliar voice and turned around to see a janitor by her doorway. "Where's Mr. Smith?" The BAU's regular janitor Mr. Smith never takes vacation days off.

"Old man called the night off, heard he has a flu or something."

Penelope nodded her head slowly. "Alright. I'll be out in a few minutes, you can come back into my office later."

"No problem, I'll start with Hotch's office."

She looked at him confused. "Uh, it's not Hotch's office anymore. Prentiss actually is the new Unit Chief now." Penelope watched carefully at how the janitor stood frozen, almost like he was debating on what he is trying to say. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm perfect." His eyes glanced over at her rows of computers. "Problem with the tech stuff?"

"Just the normal rebooting system, happens every other month." Penelope answered. She turned to focus on the computers again. Typing some words into the computers, they quickly returned back to normal. "There's the beauty again." She exhaled deeply before turning them back off and collecting her bags. "I don't know if Mr. Smith told you but I'm not a fan of people touching my figurines or collectibles around the desk. So - "

The janitor smiled. "Don't worry."

"Alright, have a good night then." Penelope bid as she walked past him as he entered her office. "I hope Mr. Smith feels better, he shouldn't be getting a flu at his age. Maybe I should make him some - " she gasped when she felt a hand on the back of her head, slamming her against the door frame with an incredible amount of strength. With just one hit, she slid down the wall with blood trickling down her head. Before she could grab her phone, she screamed in pain when he stepped on her wrist. "What do - "

"Shut up." The mysterious janitor said before he held his leg up high and stomped it against Penelope's head.

. . .

 **Tuesday 9:40AM**

Agents were walking in and out of the bullpen in a frantic mood. Papers were flying everywhere. Video footage of what happened to Penelope was being played on the screens throughout the building repeatedly. Hushed voices were heard to keep the media from knowing that the BAU's most prominent technical analyst was kidnapped inside their own building.

"What do we have so far?" JJ begged with tears brimming against her eyes. She glanced up at the screens, it hurts her to see Penelope being kidnapped like that. "What do we have?!"

"Nothing so far," Spencer finally answered. His mind was backtracking everything as far back as a week ago. Trying to remember if anything stood out that he didn't notice at first. "The kidnapper knew to hide his face from the cameras. As if he knew where our cameras were located in the first place."

Rossi ran a hand through his messy hair. Waking up to a phone call from Prentiss when she told him what happened to Penelope, he didn't have time to style or wear the proper clothes. This cannot be happening to one of their own, especially someone like Penelope - who doesn't have any training out on the field. "Why take Penelope? Who is this guy?"

Luke rushed over, being one of the last agents to arrive. His eyes widened and fearful as he stared at the screens for the first time. "What time was she taken?"

"12:30AM." Emily answered.

"Oh my God, fifteen minutes before I left." Luke said.

Emily closed her eyes briefly to think. "Fifteen minutes before we all left her alone in the office."

Rossi looked at them. "So this Unsub knew when to take action, he was waiting."

JJ glanced between the case board and the screens. "You don't think this is related to the case we are working on right now, do you?"

That's when everybody's mind clicked. It could be the only reason on why Penelope was taken. The Unsub probably thought they were inching closer to arresting him when he heard that BAU were taken over. But that was where he was mistaken, the team has no idea who the heck the Unsub is. Now, with Penelope gone, they're probably have a lesser chance to find out.

The doors burst opened so loud that everybody became silent and their attention adverted over to the one man standing in the middle of the bullpen. His eyes filled with anger and fear, His hands gripping tightly onto his jacket and badge. "Where is Penelope?!" Derek Morgan demanded to know as his eyes settled on his former team. That's when he saw the footage being played caught his attention and he immediately gripped onto an edge of a desk from shock. "Baby girl..." he muttered under his breath.

Luke stared at Derek Morgan, he has heard only stories about the amazing Agent Morgan from other agents. Most of the stories come from Penelope herself. He glanced at the other members, they were obviously as affected as anyone else in the room. Luke's eyes wandered over to Penelope's office, where forensic team are taking samples right now. Just last night, they were actually laughing and joking around while eating dinner. How did something as simple as that become into this chaotic mess? Feeling as though his heart is about to tear apart, he excused himself from the team. As soon as he was alone, he clenched onto the railing of a staircase. "Penelope, please be okay."


	2. Chapter Two

**Tuesday 12:20PM**

"What have we concluded?" Derek demanded to know as soon as he closed the conference's door behind him. His eyes adverted over to the windows where other agents were running in and out, trying to find a way to block the media from finding out. Although he did work hand in hand with some of those agents, he can't trust this kidnapping case being handled by them. Flipping the shutters so the windows can be blocked, he turned back around to look at his one and only former team. "JJ said that this could be involving the serial killer on a case you were working on?"

Spencer nodded his head as he reached over for the remote, he slightly paused - the remote has only been touched by Penelope. Pressing down a button, he pulled up the images of the victims that had seen earlier. "The only facts we know about the Unsub is that he feels inferior to high ranking women in the work environment. He doesn't get off by harming these victims but rather letting them starve to death gives him the satisfication of taking their life away."

"Because he's the one in control, controlling whether they eat or drink while they were restrained by some kind of ropes. It helps him diminishes any inferior feelings he has against women for the time being." JJ continued on explaining. "Until he finds his next victim."

Derek looked at the images, it feels weird to be staring at crime scene photos again since he left the field. The normality of being a stay-at-home dad felt nice and intensely relaxing. But he can't lie that standing in the middle of the conference room with a gun back into his holster and a badge in his pockets, it feels good to be like this again. "It was noted back on the display board out there that this Unsub would kidnap another victim after two days of dumping his last victim." He took a deep breath before taking a seat at the table. "When was the last victim dumped and found?"

"October 14." Rossi answered after a brief moment of silence. "Garcia was taken only yesterday, October 15th. He's a day early."

Luke has been silent since the arrival of Derek, he has been observing and listening to everybody's thoughts. "We're not 100% positive that it's the same Unsub."

Derek turned to look at the new guy. "Why? Everyone else is certain that it's the same guy."

"Garcia," Luke explained. He cleared his throat once their eyes all fell on him, waiting for a good explanation on why he doesn't think the same. "She's a tech analyst, not exactly a high ranking position compared to the last victims. And why would he aim toward one of the most dangerous places possible? This is a federal building. Nowhere near the radius of his last dump sites, which are all a mile apart from one another. We are within a 60-90 mile radius from the dump site." He exhaled deeply before running a hand through his hair. "I just don't think we should use the same perspective from one case for Garcia's. We should open a different mindset for this one and maybe we can actually get some results."

"Compared to the last five victims?" Derek repeated. "Garcia is one of the country's most elite hackers who works for the FBI. If that isn't high ranking then what is?"

"I'm not saying that," Luke said. "All I am saying is that it's best if we look at this kidnapping case different from the other case. We are emotionally attach to this one and it may affect - "

"It's not affecting anything, Agent Alvez." Derek interrupted him before abruptly getting up from his seat. "JJ told me about the conversation you two had with the sheriff yesterday. The man insisted on giving the footages to their own analyst despite knowing very well that all evidence must go under our jurisdiction." Derek closed his eyes for a few seconds to calm himself down. "That gives us plausible cause to at least assume that these two cases are related to one another."

Luke looked around, trying to see if anyone else is going to say anything. Deciding that it might as well be him to take the heat from Derek, he also got up from his seat and looked at him. "Assume? When do profilers start assuming? Don't you think that the least we can do is actually sit down and think this out? We haven't even talked about the footage. What about Garcia? Looking at this from a different aspect, we have to consider on some of her actions that could've led to the kidnapping."

"Some of her actions?!" Derek repeated in anger. "Do you know Penelope? She isn't someone that deserves to be kidnapped. That woman is just purely filled with love and a big heart."

"Half of the people in the world don't deserve to be kidnapped but they do anyway." Luke answered. "But most of them don't just happen to be a FBI tech analyst, do they?"

Derek stepped closer to Luke, his eyes intense and angry as he stares at the new guy. "What are you trying to say, Agent Alvez?"

Emily and the others immediately stood up from their seats, worried on what is going to happen next. Knowing how Derek feels about Penelope, someone who he is willing to give his heart and soul to - the intensity between these two men are extremely terrifying to watch. "Derek..." Emily decided to speak up. "Maybe Luke's right. We have to look at it from a different standpoint."

"No," Derek disagreed with his eyebrows furrowed. "Let's hear what this new guy has to say on why our Penelope deserves on getting kidnapped."

"I...I never said that." Luke defended himself.

Spencer looked at his best friend. "Morgan, Luke never said that. He just meant that by looking at statistics that maybe..."

"Statistics?! This is Penelope we are talking about!" Derek turned to look at JJ. "You know Penelope as much as you do. Nothing she ever does deserves to be in the current situation she is in, does it?"

JJ opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it. Clearing her thoughts for a few seconds, she sighed. "I agree with Derek. We have a lead, the least we can do is follow it. If it ends being the short end of the stick, we can follow what Luke assumes and start looking at the case in a different perspective."

Luke knew that his words would come close to nothing considering that he was up against Derek, their longtime team member. He nodded his head before grabbing his jacket from the chair. "Alright. I'll follow whatever orders the Unit Chief gives me."

Emily sighed as everyone's attention were on her, this is the exact moment where she really had wished that she wasn't Unit Chief. As of right now, each one of them are too emotionally attached to this case. If she were to say one thing, half of them would be hurt either way. But considering the circumstances and how they actually do have one lead, there's only once choice ahead of them. "Let's just go with Derek for now."

. . .

 **Tuesday 3:10PM**

 _Penelope. Penelope. Penelope._ Her eyes snapped open to the sound of someone calling her name, her head felt as if it's about to explode. Penelope was surrounded by nothing but pitch blackness. _Penelope._ Immediately, she wrapped her arms around herself. _Don't be scared, it's just me. Listen to me very carefully, Penelope. Open your eyes, do you hear me?_ She knit her eyebrows together in confusion, her eyes are open. _Open your eyes, Penelope!_

And that's when she snapped out of the brief nightmare and returned back to reality. Her eyes widened in fear as she backed herself against the wall, her eyes staring straight into the kidnapper's eyes. She had woken up a few hours ago to nothing but pitch blackness. For a few minutes, ignoring the intense pain her head was giving her, she tried to look for a way out. But what could've she seen with no light? That's when he came in and just sat in front of her. Looking at her as she shivered in the coldness. When he came in, the lights came back to life and she realized that he had taken off her dress and leggings, dressing her in a dress shirt - a man's dress shirt. Fear and worry ran through her spine, did he do something to her while she was out? Besides the aching pain from her head, she wasn't exactly in pain anywhere else. Her hand reaches over to her hair, all her little hair clips and earrings were gone.

"You look better like this," he began to say as he tilt his head sideways, lookin closer at Penelope with a smile. "All that attire and makeup, it doesn't fit you. Hides the real beauty you already have. Don't you see? This makes you even more beautiful."

She's not an agent. She doesn't have the training on how to handle this situation. She's nothing like her team. All she does is type a few words or numbers into her computer and bam! that's her magic. This isn't her line of work. What is she supposed to say so he doesn't become angry? What is she supposed to do to make sure that she stays alive? Before she knew it, tears started brimming against her eyes as a thousand thoughts racked through her mind. She's going to die and this stranger, this disgusting psycho is going to be the last person she sees before dying.

"No, no, no," he immediately got up from his seat and rushed over to Penelope. His hands gripping onto her shoulders as he smiled softly. "Don't cry. I'm not going to hurt you, Penelope. I would never do that."

She winced in fear when he started to caress his thumb over her cheeks to wipe away the tears running down her face. "What...what do you want?"

He smiled before he leaned over, kissing the top of her head. Pulling away, he exhaled deeply. "I just want to be with you," he paused before standing up to return to his seat. "Forever."

Penelope clenched her teeth as she adverted her attention over to the only door in the room. There's no windows so she can't see where exactly she is. Newspapers dating back to three months were all over the floor. Old pizza boxes were piling over at the corner as if it's been months since this guy has left. Penelope arched an eyebrow to herself, did she just analyze the room by profiling a bit of his life? Maybe she can do this, maybe she can survive by using what she has learned from watching her own team for years. Maybe she can - Penelope screamed when he suddenly grabbed her arms, pulling her up from the floor. "You're hurting me!"

"I forgot," putting her down onto the chair next to his. "I have something to show you." Opening up two laptops, he chuckled as he carefully put a strand of hair behind Penelope's hair. "It'll be my first of many presents for you."

As soon as he pressed the space bar on both laptops, Penelope gasped once she saw Rossi and Emily on the screens. It was the cameras from inside the BAU and it's a live feed. Breathing in and out heavily, she glanced up at him. "You've been monitoring us?"

"You," he corrected her with a brief smile before closing the laptops. "I've been watching you, Penelope." Taking the laptop with him as he walked over to the door to leave. "For a very long time and I'm never letting you go."

Feeling sick to her stomach, Penelope rushed over to the corner while screaming. Tears were running down her face uncontrollably as she threw up. Gasping for air, she turned around to face nothing but pitch blackness again.

. . .

 **Tuesday 4:00PM**

"Agents, what are you doing here?" The sheriff asked as soon as he caught glimpse of them walking into the station. "Is there a new development in the case that I should know about?"

Derek scanned the cops that were standing around the station. "You spoke about a tech analyst yesterday, how he handles all of the footages when cases are locally open." He looked at the sheriff in the eyes, indicating something of more serious matter. "I would like to speak to that analyst right now."

"Tim? His name is Timothy Wells, been working with us for years." The sheriff stared at everybody's serious expression. "He's in his office right now." He held up his arms to stop Derek from walking. "As the sheriff and someone responsible for my team, I would like to know what's going on. I can't just let you barge in here without my consent especially if it looks like you want to interrogate my employees."

"You revoked the consent once we took over the case," Derek informed him. "You should know the law by now." Without another word, he pushed past the sheriff and stormed down the hallways. As soon as he found the analyst's office, he knocked the door twice. Awaiting for a response, Derek turned to look at Spencer once he heard some noise from inside. "Alright, I'm not going to be playing games here."

"Derek, maybe we should - " Spencer stopped talking once Derek kicked down the door. "Never mind."

"Timothy Wells!" Derek screamed with his gun out. "Get down from the window right now!"

Timothy jumped down from the window with his hands up in the air to surrender. "I didn't do anything!" He glanced between his sheriff and Derek, who was still pointing at the gun at him. "I swear I didn't do anything!"

"Why were you trying to run then?" Derek asked before putting his gun back into his holster.

"We don't have any evidence to bring him into questioning, Derek." Spencer tried to reason with him. "We were only supposed to talk to him. Ask him what he knows."

Derek looked at Spencer. "The guy just tried to jump out of a window seconds before we kicked down the door. If that's not evidence enough, what is?" He grabbed Tim's shoulders by force before dragging him back over to the seat where all the computers are. "Tell me what you know."

"What?" Tim asked. "What do I know? Is this about the case with the five dead women? I don't know anything about it. I don't even have the footages to look over!"

"An analyst like you would have the footages even if you handed it over to us. You wouldn't have been able to fight the urge as a hacker. I'm not asking about the footages." Derek glared at him, he watched as Tim continuously stomp the ground with his left foot as if he's really nervous about something. "You're hiding something. What is it, Wells? What aren't you telling us?!"

Timothy started shaking. "I...I watched it."

"You watched what?" Spencer asked in a more calmer voice.

"The kidnapping," Tim looked up with guilt all over his face. "I saw your technical analyst getting kidnapped through the live feed that I have on my computers."

Spencer looked at the monitors all over the wall and the computers displayed on his desk. "You said live feed?"

"I know it's illegal but I'm a hacker, that's what I do." Timothy started moving his chair over to his computers, putting in some code into the system. He backed away from the computers so Derek and Spencer could see what's on the screen. "Yesterday when the sheriff came back and said I have to hand over all the footages from the dump sites to your analyst. It hit a core in my body, as if I wasn't good enough for it. So I got tempted into finding out who she is."

"And hacking into our camera system is the only way for you to check out a rival?" Derek questioned. The BAU's camera systems were all over the screen, showing them a live feed of the current situation inside their building. He could see Rossi inside the office, Emily making phone calls from her own office, JJ and Luke talking to each other at the bullpen. "How long have you been watching Penelope?"

"That's her name?" Tim asked. "Only last night, I swear."

Spencer observed Tim's hands, the way he kept twisting his thumbs around each other. "There's something you're not telling us."

"There's nothing else." Tim said.

Derek looked at him. "You watched our analyst being taken away by someone on a live feed from our cameras and didn't bother calling our headquarters? Why?"

"I..." Tim cleared his throat. "I was just scared."

"My analyst doesn't have to tell you anything. He hasn't done anything wrong." The sheriff tried to protect him. "He doesn't have to say another word."

"He hacked into a federal building, that's a serious offense." Derek pulled Tim off from the chair, twisting his arms behind his back as he placed handcuffs. "You're under arrest."

. . .

 **Tuesday 6:10PM**

"There's something he isn't telling us," Derek told the others as they looked through the double sided mirror, watching as Timothy nervously wait for someone to come into the interrogation room. "I can just feel it in my body."

"He's a hacker." JJ said. "Just like Garcia. Hackers tend to have secrets that they don't tell anyone. It's like their code or encoding they use. Telling their secret is off limits for them."

Emily sighed. "He said he watched Garcia getting kidnapped? Live?"

Spencer nodded his head. "When JJ and Luke told the sheriff that Garcia is a much better analyst to have on looking over the footages, Tim was offended. He wanted to check out the rival, to see if Garcia was up to par with his own level of skills."

Luke remembered the same conversation in the car that he had with JJ. "Competitive," he quietly said. "All hackers tend to be competitive with one another."

"It's not just that," Derek shook his head. "He knows something. I don't know if it's related to Penelope but it's something big. Look at him. He's practically shaking."

"Well, he is in an interrogation room surrounded by agents." Rossi pointed out. "Anyone in their right mind would be nervous."

JJ looked down at her phone once she was alerted of something. "Guys," showing her phone to them. "Look."

Derek scoffed as soon as he read the statements. "I told you." He walked over to the door, getting ready to interrogate Tim when Luke stopped him. "What's this?"

"Let me do it," Luke suggested. "I'll interrogate him."

"No." Derek said. "He's scared of me. I should be the one to interrogate him."

Luke looked at him. "That's exactly why you can't interrogate him. He's horrified of you. He's not going to tell you anything."

"Look - "

"Morgan." Emily interrupted. "Luke's right. If we want to find Garcia, we have to go with a faster option. Let Luke go."

Derek exhaled deeply before backing away from the door. "You better do this right."

"I know what to do." He looked over at JJ, signaling her to send him the recent founding over to his phone. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to the interrogation room. "Timothy Wells, I'm Agent Luke Alvez with the BAU."

Tim cleared his throat as he clenched his hands together tightly. "I know you. You're the one that told the sheriff to hand over the footages over to the analyst."

"Yeah." Luke sat down in front of him from across the table and briefly smiled. "Sorry if I offended you."

"No," Tim started scratching his wrists. "She's good. She's really good."

Luke nodded his head in agreement. "One of the best in the field."

"Penelope's her name?" Tim asked. "I didn't know that. I thought it was - " he stopped himself from talking further. "I mean, it's cool. The name, I mean."

Luke narrowed his eyes, noticing the little brief of hesitation there. "Did you know our tech analyst from before?"

"No." Tim answered.

"Really?" Luke took out his phone as soon as he felt it vibrate. Opening the file that JJ sent him, he placed down the phone on the table. Sliding it over for Tim to see, Luke watched his expressions very carefully. "Those are your bank statements, Tim." He leaned over the table to scroll down, showcasing all the deposits that were made into his account in a matter of one year. "That's a lot of money for just a local tech analyst, don't you think?"

"My grandmother sends me money," Tim said. "Like you said, we don't make enough money. She supports me from time to time."

Luke took a breath. "That's odd. If it was truly your grandmother, wouldn't it indicate her name or her own account number at least?" He pointed to the list of accounts that has deposited money into Tim's bank. "This shows that various type of people has sent you money. Now, here's where the problem lies. We can't seem to locate or identify these accounts because it's practically unknown." He leaned back into his seat, looking at Tim. "Why is that?"

"I don't know - "

Not giving him enough time to speak, Luke snapped his fingers repetitively as if he was trying to get his brain to work. "You see, Tim." Luke's smile vanished into a more serious expression. "A friend of ours is kidnapped, you watched it happen with your very own eyes. Oh, I forgot." Luke slammed his hands onto the table. "You watched it happened live through your computers in that tiny little office! You didn't inform the authorities nor did you inform our headquarters. That's where I get confuse and start wondering why wouldn't you inform anyone? Does it have to do with the huge amount of money that you're receiving?"

Tim started coughing. "I need water."

"You're not getting water until you tell me what you're hiding." Luke said.

"I'm not hiding anything - "

Luke abruptly stood up from his seat, walking around Tim in circles as he spoke. "The only logical reasoning I can find is that someone paid you money to kidnap our analyst."

"What? No!" Tim quickly denied. "I would never do something as horrendous as that!"

"Then what is it, Tim?!" Luke slammed the table with his hand again. "In a matter of one year, you've received an amount of over 500,000 dollars. Why?! What aren't you telling us?!"

Tim shook his head as he screamed. "People know that I work as a tech analyst for the police. Using that leverage, sometimes I take money from people who want to make things go away."

"To make what go away, Tim?!"

"Nothing big, I swear!" Tim answered. "If someone stole money or things from stores, I make the footage go away so there wouldn't ever be any proof. Sometimes I make traffic tickets go away. Little things, I never make footages of murders or anything big go away. I would never do that!"

Luke sat back down, taking his phone to show Tim an account number that had deposited the largest amount of money. "This person sent the largest amount to you a year ago. Why? If you do make little things go away, why send this huge amount for? Is this one different?"

"I...someone sent me an email wanting to learn on how to hack systems," Tim took a deep breath. "At first, I thought it was a joke. You can't just learn how to hack in a matter of days. It wasn't until my bank account was a lot more higher than it ever was." He covered his face with his hands as sweat were coming down. "But the guy was persistent, Agent. The more money he gave me, the more he wanted to learn. In a month, he became someone with outstanding hacking skills. At least, better than me."

"Why did he want to learn?"

Tim sighed. "Typical reason. He broke up with a girlfriend and wanted her back. He wanted to know what she was doing at all times, it was creepy."

"Tim, how is this related to our friend? You wouldn't be nervous over something like this. What else is there?" Luke asked.

"I never met him. I exchanged emails with the guy. He never told me anything personal with the exception of his girlfriend. It was weird."

Luke was about to lose his patience. "What was weird?"

"When he described her, he kept saying how nothing she wears defines the beauty he actually sees in her. He described how she looked better with her hair down, her long blond hair. There were times where he told me how the little figurines and cat stuffed animals didn't fit her." Tim glanced up to see Luke's eyes going from side to side as if he was collecting the information. "He kept saying how angry he becomes when she talks about Dean. The way she openly flirts with Lucas and how upsetting it is for him to watch her surround herself with toxic people."

"Tim..." Luke said slowly. "What are you trying to get at?"

"I didn't know who the girlfriend was. I had only assume that he was off his rockets but the money he gave me was crazy good. He called her Daisy and how - "

Luke snapped his fingers. "Tim!"

"He showed me a picture in an email before, it was the last time I spoke to him." Tim took fixed his collar as it started to become hard to breath in the room. "When I hacked into your camera system last night to check out who this tech analyst was, that's when I realized that it was her. She's Daisy. I started to freak out because I didn't know what I got myself into." Tim started crying and shaking at the same time. "I was just about to call the sheriff to tell him everything when I looked up and there it was, I was watching her getting kidnapped. He slammed her head against the door and - "

Luke ran a hand through his hair out of frustration. "Your computer. Which computer has the emails that you've exchanged with him? Which one?"

"The one with my name on it, it's my only personal computer in the office." Tim answered.

"Did you locate him? Did you ever found out who he was?" Luke asked.

Tim shook his head. "I tried. I tried to locate his IP, his email - anything possible but it's a dead end."

Luke got up from his seat and rushed out of the interrogation room. As soon as he was back into the room with the others, he looked over at JJ. "Can you - "

"I'm already on it." JJ said as dialed a number for a team to bring over the personal computer to them.

Rossi tapped his fingers on the wall. "Daisy? Toxic people?" He looked at the others, the same expression written all over their faces. "This is a different case from the one we're working on."

Derek closed his eyes. "Alvez was right. I was too emotionally invested and just wasted," he check the time on his watch. "Eleven hours on finding her."

"No," Luke disagreed. "If you weren't persistent on going with this lead, we wouldn't have known about this."

Emily took a deep breath. "Penelope had a stalker for a year."

JJ leaned against the wall as she crossed her arms across her chest. "A stalker would've want their target to be loved the same way as who they are. This guy, the way Tim was describing him, it's as if he loves Penelope but his own version of her. Everything that is the opposite of what she's supposed to be, he loves. He doesn't love that she's unique or has her hair pinned up with a thousand hair clips in them."

"He's thriving in his own fantasy of Penelope." Derek said. "If Tim is right, this Unsub has been following her for a year. He knows everything about her and is trying to change every single thing about Penelope."

Rossi nodded his head. " _She talks about Dean_ ," he repeated after remembering what Tim said earlier. "He was talking about you, Morgan." He glanced over at Luke. "You're _Lucas_." Opening his arms, indicating everyone in the room. "And we're the _toxic people_ that she surrounds herself with."

"He doesn't like the fact that she is around men like Derek or Luke. He doesn't like that she spends more time with us than him." Emily shook her head. "Once he has Penelope, he's never letting her go. He's going to want to change her, make her into his own version." Taking a brief look at her watch, they're hitting the twelve hour mark since she went missing. "Make her into the person he truly believes she's supposed to be."

Luke sat down before covering his face with his hands, trying to collect his thoughts together. "Do you guys," he hesitated a bit. "Do you guys think Penelope knew that she had a stalker?" Everybody turned to look at him, he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't believe that in a matter of a year, this guy didn't try to reach out to her. He must've done something to have some sort of contact with Penelope."

"Luke's right." Spencer said. "Is the forensic team done with Penelope's office? We need to check everything there. Maybe even send someone to her house to look through things." He looked at Tim through the double sided mirror. "And a tech analyst to look through her computer."

"Is this all necessary?" Derek asked.

Emily sighed. "You know as much as we do, Morgan. If we're going to start looking at this case in a new perspective, we have to begin with victimology."

Derek stared at the ceiling as he spoke. "Given the brief profile we have, do you think he'll hurt her? Or..."

No one in the room wanted to think of that possibility. The idea of someone taking Penelope's life away from them. "As of this moment, the guy is clearly obsessed with Penelope. Even after a year, he is still persistent enough to the point he kidnapped her." Rossi looked at them, trying to make the situation less intense. He has to make sure that everybody is going to be level headed in this case. "Unless he fails on changing Penelope, he's not going to give her up."

JJ has been holding in her tears since Penelope went missing. She tried to stay in control of her emotions because that's what she is supposed to do. Being in control and not to be too emotionally invested on a case. But as the hours goes by and the longer she doesn't know how Penelope is holding up, she is starting to lose it. Putting her hand over her heart, JJ slid down the wall and cried her heart out.

Emily walked over, embracing her into a hug. "It'll be okay." Holding back the urge to cry herself, Emily sighed. "She'll be okay."

"Garcia is one of the most compassionate people we know," Spencer said slowly. "She has a big heart and she knows that we'll be coming for her. She knows that we'll save her. Penelope's tough. She can survive, I know it."

. . .

 **Wednesday 1:00AM**

The door burst open, bringing in the only sunlight that Penelope has seen. As soon as he dropped the food onto the table, he closed the door carefully. Turning on the lights, he softly smiled as he made his way over to her. "You should eat," taking out the food from the bags, he laughed. "You must be hungry."

Penelope could feel her stomach growling like crazy. Deciding to stand up on her own, she slowly made her way over to the table. Confusion was written all over her face as soon as she saw what was on the table. Vegetarian noodles, red velvet cake, darkened sweet coffee - almost all of her favorite food is displayed. "How...how did you know.."

"I know everything about you, Penelope." Setting out plastic utensils out for her, he smiled. "There's nothing I don't know about you." He looked at the food with a certain dislike. "Which is why we must begin."

She looked at him. "Begin what?"

He took a deep breath before putting some food onto her paper plate. "Don't ask any questions, Penelope. You should know better by now." He paused as he glanced up, his hand caressing her face. "The beginning of changing you will be only left to make you completely perfect."

"Nobody's perfect." Penelope said. She knit her eyebrows when she smell something weird for a brief second. Looking around, she noticed an opened paper bag that was never there before.

"I beg to differ," he retorted. "You're as perfect as the field of daisies."

 _You're as perfect as the field of daisies._ That's when something clicked in her mind. Penelope immediately backed away from the table, her back up against the wall as she uncontrollably cried. "Oh God, you're the one that sent all those flowers. You're the one that - " she screamed when he made his way over. "Don't touch me!"

"Penelope, you need to calm down."

"Don't touch me!" Penelope continued to scream. "You're the one that kept calling me with those numbers. I never could trace you because you kept using routers from different - "

"Penelope!"

She closed her mouth and looked at him. "Why...why are you doing this to me?"

"Did you forget?" He simply tilted his head while looking at her. "You're as perfect as the field of daisies."

"Stop saying that!" Penelope begged. "Wait - " feeling lightheaded and hard to breath or move, she tried to clench onto the edge of a chair but fell down onto the floor. "What's happening to me?"

He shook his head while looking at the time. "We have to go," he bent down as Penelope slowly lost consciousness and began to sleep. "Sadly, your toxic friends found my friend so we can't stay here any longer."

. . .

 **Wednesday 7:00AM**

Luke stood in the middle of the Penelope's office. After what happened last night, Emily had ordered the team to go back home and rest. They would be useless if they were tired. Luke never went home. Instead, he spent hours at his desk - going through the emails that were exchanged between Tim and the Unsub. He was right. The guy is untraceable to the point where it's as if he never existed. Realizing that it was seven in the morning, Luke got a cup of coffee and made his way over to Penelope's office. He hasn't dared to touch anything in the room. He doesn't know what exactly to do.

"She talks about you," Derek walked over with his own cup of coffee. "Moments of dislike and constant complaining about how you were annoying."

Luke lightly chuckled. "I know. She's not a fan of me."

Derek briefly smiled. "At first, she wasn't." He looked at all the little figurines and every single item that holds significance to her. "But the one awful thing about Penelope is that she can't ever hate anyone. No matter how hard she tries."

"It's just not in her nature." Luke said.

"My wife says she'll be fine," Derek quietly muttered. "She says that Penelope has always been strong because we were there for her. And although she's alone and probably scared right now, she'll survive."

"Do you believe so?" Luke asked.

JJ made her way over, her eyes already in tears. "Guys, we have a problem."

Derek and Luke immediately followed JJ over to the conference room where the others are. "What is it?"

"Half an hour ago, an anonymous video was sent into the headquarters. It wasn't checked into five minutes ago." Emily informed them. "It's Penelope."

Spencer reached over to the remote, pressing on the button. "He sent it." He cleared his throat as he looked at them. "It seems as though she didn't know she was being recorded."

Derek and Luke watched as Penelope showed up onto the screen. She was pacing back and forth in what seems like a enclosed room. It was dark but the cameras were on night mode so they could perfectly see what was going on. In the first few minutes of the video, Penelope was backed up in the corner - rocking back and forth. Almost as if she was trying to keep herself awake.

"Excuse me," Tim opened the conference door as he looked at everybody. "I found it. The video, I traced it and found the location." He handed them a piece of the paper with the address written on it. Before he could say anything else, they all rushed out of the conference room within seconds.


	3. Chapter Three

**Wednesday 8:30AM**

Derek rushed over to the door, his gun in hand and his eyes scanning the whole surrounding area. "Federal agents!" He motioned for the other agents to check out the back building. "We're coming in!" Derek backed a few steps and kicked down the door. "Franklin Bolt!"

Luke followed behind him with Spencer and JJ by his side as they searched every corner of the house. "Clear!" he screamed after searching one bedroom. "Clear!"

"Clear!" Spencer called out. He walked into the living room where the others are and shook his head. "She's not in the house."

"Basement." Emily said. "There's a basement." Immediately, everyone followed each other down the steps toward the basement. "The door's locked."

Derek made his way toward the front. "Move." Within seconds, the door broke open and everybody slowly walked into the darkened room. "Where's the light?"

JJ turned the lights once she saw the switched was located outside the door. "It was - " she stopped talking as soon as she saw what was inside the room. The room's dirty, something typical of a basement. The only difference is that the room looks as if it's been a hideout by someone for years. But that wasn't what made her pause on her spot, it was the pile of clothes over at the corner that caught her attention. "Please don't tell - "

Rossi put on some gloves as he bent down in front of the clothes. Lifting a similar dress, leggings, pair of boots and a pile of jewelry - all indicating that it belongs to Penelope. "She was here."

"Damn it!" Derek screamed as he punched the wall in anger. "We're late!"

Luke walked around the room, taking a look at the takeout food on the table. "These can't be more than a few hours old." He looked at the them, showing the receipt. "Almost eight hours ago."

"He knew we were coming," JJ said. "How did he find out?"

"I know." Emily showed up at the basement again after searching upstairs again. "He left a surprise for us." Turning the tablet around for them to see, it had a post it note on the screen - with a live feed of the BAU running on the screen. " _She's mine. Give up_." She read the note out loud for them. "This is how he knew we were coming."

Spencer sighed. "The hacking skills he learned from Tim. Not only did he use it to watch Garcia's every move, he was also watching us." He looked around the room, can't imagine how Penelope would feel being trapped in this room. "He's been watching our every move since he kidnapped her. Making sure that we won't be a step further than him."

Derek looked at the food. "Penelope's favorites."

"He knew we were coming so he had to leave." JJ said. "Where could someone like him go? He's been living under this roof for years. And - "

"Do you hear this?" Luke asked as he knocked on the wall three times. "It's hollow."

Rossi got up. "Let me get a hammer - "

"No, it's okay." Luke interrupted him before punching his fist through the wall, surprising everybody in the room. Peeling pieces of the wall away, he put his arm into the hole. "Oh my God," he stepped back after a moment of shock. "Guys, help me peel the rest of the wall off." Spencer and JJ immediately rushed over to help him out. As soon as they saw what was inside, everybody stepped back.

"Ma'am," an agent rushed downstairs with an identification card in his hand, handing it over to Emily. "I don't think Franklin Bolt is the one we're looking for."

Emily took the I.D and sighed. "I know." The I.D indicates that Franklin Bolt was an eldery man over sixty years old. No where close to the body frame that they saw in the kidnapping footage.

The agent adverted his attention over to the big hole in the wall. "Is that a skelton?"

Spencer nodded his head. "And we can already guess who it belongs to."

. . .

 **Wednesday 10:30AM**

"Tell me you found something from Penelope's laptop." Derek asked Timothy as soon as he returned to the BAU.

"Well, it's considerably hard to work on a laptop with these around my wrists." Tim lifted his arms to show the handcuffs that an agent had put on him earlier. "Can't you take these off? I already know that I'm going to be charged with the hacking into federal building. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Derek glared at him. "No."

Tim exhaled deeply before returning his attention to the laptop. "There's nothing odd inside her laptop. There's no indication of her searching something involving the guy. Besides pictures of cats, comics, and her friends - there's nothing on her laptop."

"That's impossible." Derek said. "Penelope would've done something on her own if she knew she had a stalker."

"What if she didn't know?" Tim suggested. "What if she didn't know about him? I mean, she and I don't exactly do the same line of work as your team. We're merely just hackers." He cleared his throat once he saw Derek's expression. "What I mean is that as hackers, we don't look at certain things like you do. We don't have the sixth sense."

Derek's eyes adverted over to the row of picture frames that Penelope had decorated in her office. A small smile spread across his face once he saw that most of the frames occupy pictures of him and her. Feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, Derek kicked the trash bin nearby while screaming. "Where is she?!"

Tim briefly jumped up in surprise. "I'm sorry that I can't be much of a help. I'm so - " he stopped talking once he saw something odd from the contents inside the trash bin that Derek just kicked. "What is that?"

"What is - " Derek furrowed his eyebrows together. "Cards." He bent down and picked up a handful of cards. "Cards that comes along with flowers."

"Flowers?" Tim looked around the office. "There's no flowers here."

Derek scoffed. "Exactly." He put everything that spilled out of the trash bin back inside before taking it with him as he stormed over to the conference room. "Check this out."

Everybody dropped what they were doing and watched as Derek pour out the contents from the bin onto the table in front of them. "Why are there so many cards?"

"I think Penelope have been receiving flowers from the guy and didn't tell us." Derek said as he sort out the cards from the other crumpled pieces of papers.

JJ took one of the cards. " _You're as perfect as a field of daisies_." She picked up another. " _You're as perfect as a field of daisies_." Scanning the rest of them, she looked at them. "They're all the same."

Spencer held up a different card. "Not this one," he held it up for them to see. " _When you become mine, I will perfect you into the person you're meant to be_."

"Why didn't she tell us?" Emily wondered. "This is only two weeks worth of cards. If he has been truly stalking her for a year, there had to be more. Which meant she had a chance to tell us."

Luke sighed. "I don't think she wanted to bother us." While everybody else was looking at the cards, something else caught his attention. It was a piece of paper that had Penelope's handwriting on it. There were scratches all over some words. "She was trying to figure it out on her own."

 _Creepy guy keeps sending me flowers?_  
 _What does this mean? You're as perfect as a field of daisies? Is it a meaning?_  
 _Should I tell the team? Morgan? No. Scratch that._  
 _Can't tell them. They have better things to worry about._

Rossi took a look at the time. "It'll be almost 48 hours since she went missing. Have we been cleared to check out her apartment yet?" Since Penelope went missing, the forensic team and higher authority wanted to wait until they cleared everything before they went to check it out. Considering that she is a tech analyst that works for the FBI, they wanted to make sure that nothing relating their documents were there.

Emily's phone vibrated, notifying her a text message. "Just got the confirmation."

"No, no, no," JJ repeated to herself while looking through her phone. "This can't be happening." Quickly grabbing the remote, she switched the screen over to a local news channel. "It's all over the media."

A news anchor appeared on screen, standing outside the FBI building. " _From an inside source, it is to believed that FBI's Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia has been missing for almost 48 hours. With the footage that we have achieved, it is shown here that Penelope Garcia was taken inside the safety barriers of the BAU's department_." A smaller screen appeared on the right side corner, playing the footage of Garcia getting her head pushed onto the door before being taken away by the kidnapper. " _If the FBI can't protect one of their own from inside their very own building, how do we expect them to protect us?"_

"Who the hell leaked it?!" Derek questioned.

Rossi turned his head over to the bullpen where the other agents are running around frenzy after the media found out. "It has to be from inside here."

Luke quickly put his jacket on, looking over at Emily. "I'll head over to her apartment right now. Look for any clues or any indication that the Unsub has been there or not."

Derek nodded his head. "I'll come with."

Emily knit her eyebrows together as both of them walked out of the conference room and out the bullpen. Not knowing if it's exactly the best decision to have both of them heading off together on their own - considering that one of them is highly emotional and the other one being considerably too under emotional.

"They'll be fine," Rossi reassured her. "If they run into problems with one another again, let them hatch it out." He briefly closed his eyes, feeling that something bad is about to happen now that it's out in the media.

. . .

 **Wednesday 11:40PM**

Penelope wrapped her arms around her legs as she rocked back and forth repeatedly. She woke up nearly ten minutes ago to find herself in a different room than before. This one isn't as dark like the last one but it's still freezing. As she shivered, Penelope glanced around the room, searching for a way out. There is nothing but a simple mattress on the middle of the floor that she's sitting on and a bunch of newspapers laid out around. Just as she was about to shut her eyes, she realized something odd. The floor is metal, not hardwood like before. Quickly getting on her feet, she leaned over and knocked on the floor three times. Echoing sounds. "Oh my God." She wasn't in a room, she's trapped inside a metal container - probably something that can be found on the back of a big truck. "Oh God," tears started flooding down her face as she got up and rushed over to the door. "Let me out!" she screamed while pounding on the door. "Let me out, you freak!"

The sounds of locks unlocking caught her off guard, she stepped back and walked him enter the container. Closing the door behind him, he dropped the fast food bag on the mattress. "It's burger and fries."

"Let me go home," Penelope begged. "It's cold and I miss my friends."

"Come on, you should be eating."

Penelope made her first physical contact on her own with him as she clenched onto his arm. "Please. My friends probably miss me. They're looking for me. I will make sure that they won't harm you."

"They're toxic people!" He screamed as he shoved her back onto the mattress. "Toxic people! They don't ever care about you!" He bent down in front of her, his eyes filled with anger and impatience. "What happens during work days, Penelope? You work so hard for them while they're at a different state. And what do they do once they come back? Go back to their own little world. They don't care for you like the way I do." He tilt his head sideways while caressing her face. "They don't appreciate your hard work or even existence. You're always forgotten."

"No," Penelope cried. "They're my friends, they're my only family." She tried to back away from him but he clenched onto her arms, digging his nails into her skin. "They're nothing like what you think."

"Shut up!" For the first time in the two days that he had been with her, he laid a hand on her. Smacking her across the face, his eyes widened quickly. "Oh God, I didn't mean to do that. I'm so sorry." He touched her red cheek, rubbing it to make it feel better. "Does it hurt? I'm sorry."

Penelope inhaled and exhaled deeply while she looked at him. "Please..."

Shaking his head as he stood up, he took a deep breath before running a hand through his hair. "I know you won't understand but you eventually will." Picking up the fast food bag, he placed it in front of her. "Eat. It'll be your only food in a while."

She tried to grab hold of his ankles to beg him one more time but it was useless. He shook her hands away before walking out of the container, leaving her all alone again. Penelope shivered in the coldness, tears running down nonstop. "Jennifer, I miss you." She cried out as she wrapped her arms around herself. She misses her best friend, her beautiful strong best friend. If JJ was here, she would've told her It's okay, you're strong. You'll be able to go through this. Penelope's eyes widened when she felt the whole container shaking. She clenched onto the edges of the mattress as it began moving around. He's driving the truck, he's taking her to some other place. Somewhere further so he wouldn't be caught. So she would never be able to come home.

. . .

 **Thursday 12:30AM**

Luke moved aside as Derek took out a set of keys from his pockets. "You have the keys to her place?"

Opening the door, Derek glanced at him before stepping into the apartment. "We have each other's keys. When I left the BAU, I exchanged it because I wanted her to know that I'll always be there for her." He paused once he saw a box labeled with his name on it. "My present..."

"Present?" Luke looked around the apartment, it feels odd to be in someone else's home for the first time without the host there. The more he looks around, the more he couldn't help but smile at the fact that each significant thing inside of her clearly showcases Penelope's personality. She was like an open jukebox. Everything she showcases is exactly how she is inside.

"My birthday," Derek answered softly. "It's next week. Every year, Penelope would make me something by yarn or something she learned by hand. Last year was a scarf, the year before were a pair of gloves." He couldn't help but choke up a bit as he lifted up the unfinished wool hat for Luke to see. "I guess this year's a hat."

Luke could see that Derek is struggling with his emotions again. "She'll give it to you," he reassured him with a brief smile. "We'll save her in time and she'll be in the safe walls of her home, finishing that hat for you before your birthday."

"Thanks but," Derek said as he placed the hat back into the box. "Reassurance is one of the first things they teach you in the FBI, Alvez. It's what we tell victim's families to make sure they can keep their emotions in check." He exhaled before looking at Luke. There has been something that he meant to ask but he hadn't been able to because his mind is always bouncing from here to there. "Why aren't you affected by this?"

"Excuse me?" Luke asked.

"You're the only one in the team that haven't shown any sort of emotional distress or breakdown. JJ broke down twice last night. Emily has been secretly crying in her office because as Unit Chief, she doesn't want us to see her breakdown. He may act as if he doesn't care about Penelope at times but Rossi loves her little antics. Maybe that's why half the time when he's in his office, muttering words to himself so he can stay composed. Reid is starting to quote comic dialogues at his desk because that's the bond he shares with her." Derek shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what else can he say. "Is it because you don't know her as much? Because you haven't been with the team for long? There isn't any distress signaling you?"

Luke could only let out a small laugh. "Agent Morgan, I think you of all people should know that when a fellow colleague is in trouble, it's a distress call for everybody in the office." His eyes adverted over to a picture frame of Penelope on her coffee table. "I am just more of handling my emotions alone. Having been in the Task Force for a long time, it's what you learn on your own. Besides my old partner, I never really had a team with me all the time like now."

Derek analyzed his words in his mind. "I am not asking you this question as a fellow agent but more of as someone who has their best friend missing." He breathed in and out as he looked at him. "Do you care for her, Alvez?"

"Care for her?" Luke repeated. "Of course I do."

"That's all I need to know." Derek said before walking over to the bedroom, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Luke briefly shut his eyes as he breathed in and out slowly, trying to collect his thoughts and emotions together. As he opened his eyes, he noticed something odd about the living room wall. "Agent Morgan!"

"What is it?" Derek asked as he stepped out of the bedroom.

"Do you see what I see?" Luke pointed over at the wall.

Derek narrowed his eyes, trying to notice what Luke is seeing. "Unless you have x-ray vision, I don't see what you're seeing."

"Help me move the television stand out of the way." Luke walked over to one end of the display stand while Derek went over to the other side. As soon as it was out of the way, Luke stood in front of the wall. "It looks hollow."

"Hollow?" Derek repeated. "How does something look hollow? You know it's your second time today that you noticed - " he didn't have the chance to finish talking when Luke suddenly punched his fist through the wall, causing purple paint walls to crumple down onto the ground. "You just have a thing with punching through walls, don't you?"

Luke shrugged his shoulders. "I can say the same for you with the whole kicking down the door ordeal." He pulled out a small camera device and scoffed out of disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Is that a camera?!"

"Not just any camera," Luke explained. "I used to use this camera all the time in the Task Force. It has the ability to see through surfaces and provide live feed images and videos of whoever we were hunting." He handed the camera over to Derek. "This freak has been watching Penelope in her very own home. Anything she did in here, he saw and probably took notes."

Derek shook his head. "We need to bring this back to the BAU," he covered his mouth with his hand to keep himself from cursing. "We need Tim to go through whatever footages are in this camera."

Luke glanced at his watch. "It's officially past 48 hours now."

. . .

 **Thursday 6:00AM**

Penelope started coughing due to the coldness that she has been trapped with. How long has she been in here? How long has she been with this guy? Feeling lightheaded, she looked around the dark space. How long has it been since she's seen her friends? She's been so used to seeing them everyday due to work that it's a part of her routine. Expectancy is something she has grown with them. She expects to see them every Monday, to start out the week on whatever case they'll be working on that week. She expects to see them every Friday night, walking into the bullpen feeling tired and complaining about drinks. It's their routine. How are they holding up without her? What kind of cases are they working on right now without her? Are they even able to work on it without the help? Penelope shook her head as she choked back her tears while clearing her throat. Of course, they wouldn't be able to solve any cases.

"I'm Penelope Garcia, the amazing and brilliant Penelope Garcia." The longer she talks to herself, the shakier her voices gets. "I'm strong and brave. I'm stronger because I was hurt before. I'm braver because I know I have..." tears rolled down her face and she quickly wiped it away. "God, stop crying!" She yelled at herself while viciously shaking her head. "Everything's going to be okay. The team's going to save me. JJ is going to be the first one through that door, giving me a tight hug. She will cry and I will cry. Emily is going to be next, lecturing me on how I have to be on a demanded vacation. Reid is give me statistics on how lucky I am to survive as a victim to kidnapping. Rossi is going to stand there and smile because he's a cold hearted friend like that." Her mind's starting to go a little hazy as she felt herself feeling more sick by the second. "Derek will be here to save me too. Of course, he would be. I'm his baby girl, he will probably kick down that damn door." Clenching onto her heart as she started uncontrollably coughing, she gasped when she noticed blood in her hand. "Luke..." she cleared her throat. "Newbie will be here and he - "

The door opened, bringing in the first light she has seen in a while. "Come on," he stopped talking once he saw how sick Penelope look. "What's wrong?"

"I don't feel so good," Penelope coughed up more blood. "I need the hospital."

"No, absolutely not!" He put his arm around Penelope's waist, helping her up from the mattress. "I got a room, we can sleep in a motel room for a bit." He carefully poke his head out, making sure there is no one around. "There's still a long road ahead for us."

Penelope couldn't feel her legs. "Hospital..." She closed her eyes shut once she came in contact with the bright sun. Squinting her eyes, she glanced up and sighed. So, that's how beautiful the sun and sky looks like after hours of darkness. "Just send me to the - " Penelope couldn't finish her sentence before she fainted in his arms.

. . .

 **Thursday 9:00AM**

Emily shut the conference door behind her as she blew out air, shaking her head. Almost a dozen of reporters have been outside the FBI building since dawn. Rumors and speculation has been spreading fast. Higher superiors are on the back of her neck because of it. If she can't solve this case within the end of the week, the pressure will be much worse on her and the team. "Please tell me that tech analyst got something for us from the cameras."

JJ nodded her head while taking the remote from the table. "He just finished analyzing the video and audio so we can watch it." Her finger hovered the play button, scared on what she is about to watch.

"JJ," Rossi said softly. "If watching this can help us on finding Garcia, we have to do it."

"I know." JJ replied before pressing the play button.

Luke crossed his arms on his chest as he watched the footage. Due to the camera placement by the guy, they can only see things that Penelope does from her living room. After finding the camera, he and Derek had searched every inch of the walls in the apartment. There is only one camera that was placed. "She's coming home now." Luke said after three minutes of the video playing nothing but time going by.

"After midnight," Derek noticed the time stamp. "The time she usually arrives home."

Spencer looked at the date. "This video only dates back to a month."

 _In the video, Penelope was seen locking the doors after coming into her apartment. She threw her bags over on the couch before taking a deep breath and throwing herself onto the comfortable couch. "What a long day."_

Almost everybody in the room gasped from the sound of her voice, something they miss on hearing since she's been gone. The team shuffled around the room, not able to sit down as they continue watching the footage.

 _Penelope moved around on the couch to sleep when her phone rang. "Whoever you are, you better have a good reason to call me at this time of night." She rummaged through her bag for her cellphone. As soon as she saw the number, she frowned. "Who is this? Is it you again?!" She sat up on the couch and shook her head in disbelief. "Listen creep, stop messing with my phone. Just because I haven't been able to trace - " she looked at the phone. "Hello? Hello?" Penelope rolled her eyes before getting up and walking out of the camera's view. Sounds of her going through the fridge and a box can be heard before she returned back to the couch. "Oh, my beautiful Chocolate Thunder." She placed down her water onto the coffee table before taking out her yarn. "You better love this hat."_

Derek exhaled as the footage showed Penelope working on the hat for his birthday. "Penelope..."

 _"It's been two week since you called me," Penelope talked to herself. "Being a father must be tiring but I know you can do it. If anyone can do it, it's my Derek Morgan." She smiled as she watched the hat slowly coming to life a bit._

"Pause the video," Luke ordered JJ as he walked closer to the screen. "Did you see that?"

"No." Everybody answered with confusion on their face.

Luke took the remote from JJ and rewind to the last twenty seconds in the video. "Right here," he pointed out. "When she was talking about Agent Morgan, the part when she was talking about how he's a father. The camera did a small glitch."

"Glitch?" Emily asked. "Is there something wrong with the camera?"

That's when something clicked for Spencer immediately. "No, it doesn't indicate something wrong is with the camera." He picked up the camera that was on the table the whole time. "Usually when the law enforcement uses this type of camera, they tend to take images with it while watching it on live feed. When you're trying to take an image, the camera will have a brief glitch. It's a malfunction for about 120,972 of these cameras. About - "

"Reid, we don't need the statistics right now." Derek said. "What are you trying to say, Alvez? Did he take an image of Penelope talking on her couch for keepsake?"

"No," Luke replied. "This Unsub has been throwing his life into watching Penelope's life for a year so he can perfect her into the fantasy version he wants her to be." Indicating over to the paused video of Penelope on the couch with a smile on her face. "Here, she was smiling about how proud she was over Agent Morgan being a father."

Rossi nodded his head. "Yeah."

"But that smile," Luke pointed at. "What is it missing?"

JJ looked at Penelope's smile closer. She has been with Penelope for hours day and night. She has witnessed Penelope's smile more times than she can imagine. "Sincerity."

Derek looked at them. "So she wasn't happy about me being a father?"

"No," Emily said. "It's not that. She's absolutely happy for you but at that moment," pointing to the video. "As she was sitting on the couch making you a present, she was missing you."

Finally able to understand what everybody's talking about. "Her smile has sadness although she's happy for me."

"Exactly." Luke said. "Just seconds ago, she said how you haven't talked to her in two weeks." He quickly snapped his fingers. "That's when he took the image."

"Evidence of how people around her doesn't care for her," JJ induced as she realized another point of the Unsub. "Something that he can prove to Penelope that nobody in this room cares for her and that the only one that is able to show her the love and care she needs is - "

Spencer sighed. "Him."

. . .

 **Thursday 11:26AM**

"Housekeeping!" The sound of someone knocking on the door caused Penelope to open her eyes. She's still dizzy and drenched in her sweat but the constant sound of somebody knocking on the door gave her the strength to get up from the bed. "Housekeeping!"

"Help..." Penelope tried to speak but her voice felt too harsh and dry. "Help..." Crawling out of the bed, she dragged herself on the floor. She just needed a few more inches before being able to reach the doorknob when she felt a pair of arms around her waist. "No.."

Covering her mouth with his hand, he forcibly threw her onto the bed. "Be quiet."

Penelope tried her best to scream but her voice isn't coming out. More frustration came when the housekeeper knocked on the door two more times before leaving. As soon as the coast was clear, the hand was removed from her mouth. She backed up toward the headboard of the bed. "Where are we?" She knew that she was no longer in Virginia. "Where are we?"

"Close." He simply replied as he took some medicine from a bag. "Take your medicine."

"Close to where?!" Penelope screamed, finally losing it. She has tried her best to keep her emotions under control. Something that Hotch used to teach her when she was under distress. To prevent anything happening to her, keep her emotion under control. "Where are you taking me?! Why are you doing this to me?!"

Throwing the medicine against the wall as he screamed back. "You! All I want is you! Is that so hard to understand?!" He gripped onto her shoulders with his hands, shaking her. "You're with me now! Stop thinking about those people! They don't miss you, they hardly ever care about you!"

Penelope glared at him, trying to shove his hands away. "You don't know my friends. You don't know who they are and what they're capable of." She managed to push him away before coughing up more blood. "You made me sick! I have a fever, I'm hot and cold most of the time! Once they know that you did this to me, they're going to hurt you!"

"I don't know who they are?!" He screamed while rummaging through a duffel bag. Switching on the laptop, he turned it around for Penelope to see. It was the live feed inside the BAU. He clicked a few buttons to switch over to a closer screen of Rossi. "David Rossi, the man that was brought in years ago and did nothing but order you around as if you were his puppy. He thinks he's all high and mighty. Selfish, that's just who he is."

Penelope cried. "Stop it."

He switched the camera view to Emily, who's currently in her office. "Emily Prentiss, the newest Unit Chief of this fancy BAU. She's the tricky one. Walking around with a sullen face around acting as if she doesn't deserve the position she is in. We all know that the minute that door closes, she is smiling out of greed. Her family's filled with powerful people, there's nothing she can't do." He changed the camera view over to Spencer and JJ, who was looking over a board. Penelope's eyes widened at the realization that it was a victimology board and her picture's on it. "How about Mr. Genius? Boy genius is nothing but a mirror of a child. He gets all the love in the world. What does he do for you? Nothing. Don't get me started on Jennifer Jareau. She acts like she cares for you but she doesn't. Half the time she is burying herself in her own world."

"She's a mother with two kids!" Penelope defended Jennifer.

"Kids," He scoffed before switching the cameras again. "Speaking of kids."

Penelope couldn't help but cry as soon as she saw Derek on the screen. She knew that Derek would be there to help save her. Her Chocolate Thunder would never disappoint her. "Derek.."

The sound of how she said Derek's name ticked him off. "He's one of the worst ones. Tough guy thinks he's a hot shot just because he has some looks on him. Look at you, Penelope. He played with your feelings for years. Dragging you along just because you were vulnerable. As soon as he has a girl in his arms, he forgot all about you." He clenched his fists as he thought about the painful years that she went through. "Now, he has a wife and kid and he forgets you half the time. Making him a hat for damn nothing."

She looked at him. "How do you know about the hat?"

"He's pathetic. Not noticing that the true beauty has been in front of him for years." He shook his head. "I can't imagine how pitiful you must've felt with your feelings."

"There were never any feelings to begin with," Penelope argued. "Derek and I are best friends. He's someone that I would trust my whole life with. In fact, everybody in that team I would trust my life with. So when they do come in here and save me, I will - "

He switched the cameras one last time. "What about him?"

Penelope paused as she looked at Luke on the screen, who was in her office leaning against the wall as he stared around. What was he doing in her office? And why does he look so...sad? She blinked her eyes several times. "What about him?"

"If you say that you and Derek were just friends, what about Luke Alvez? You see, I really didn't have any problems with him in the beginning." His breathing started becoming irregular as he talked further. "It seemed as if you dislike him as well. The way you kept avoiding him, the way you kept snapping at his every word. It was almost a relief. One less problem for me." He shut the laptop with force and looked at Penelope. "He was practically nothing for a while." Taking a deep breath as he sat closer to her. "Until you started actually smiling around him, replying to some of his jokes with a laugh, secretly glancing at him when he wasn't looking." He shook his head in disbelief. "I couldn't believe that you're going to put yourself through the pain once again. Don't you see? He doesn't care for you. Luke Alvez is nothing but - "

"Stop it." Penelope warned.

Ignoring her, he continued talking. "But a loner. He's always crying for attention by trying his best to blend in with the team. And you're the easiest target, Penelope. He only sees you as someone vulnerable and sensitive, you have too much of a big heart. He's using it for his own advantage, to make himself happy." He softly smiled while caressing Penelope's cheek. "You're going to deny it, right? All Luke is doing is playing with your feelings. He doesn't like you, he would never be able to like you. Not like how I can love you. I will cherish you more better than those people. They're toxic people to surround yourself with. As soon as we reach our destination, the change can begin. You can finally live a happy life."

"No."

He furrowed his eyebrows together. "No?"

"I am not going to deny it." Penelope said.

"You don't have feelings for Luke Alvez! Just like how you didn't for Derek Morgan!" He started screaming, his anger about to reach a limit.

"No." Penelope stayed silent for a few seconds before she looked up, staring at him straight in the eyes. Maybe it's because of the spur of moment or she is just saying it to make this guy angry. For the first time after so much denial toward her friends and herself, she is going to admit something that has taken her a lot of thought. "I like him." Imagining the sad expression on Luke's face as he stood in her office almost broke her heart. "I like Luke Alvez."

He stood up from the bed, screaming on top of his lungs. "You're lying! Don't lie to me, Penelope! You're just confused because you're ill!"

She winced from all his screaming, feeling suffocated and hard to breath - she tried to keep composure. But she could feel it, her body's about to give up on her. "I'm not confused. I started liking Luke after two weeks of him joining the team." Funny enough on how Spencer manages to be right at this very moment.

"No, you're not fully awake. You're out of it right now." He started pacing back and forth while shaking his head as if he was in dream. "You need to wake up so you can see clearly."

Penelope watched at how twitchy he was becoming and how close he was about to break. Maybe she should stay quiet now so he wouldn't - her eyes widened when the sound of knocking on the door returned. It was the housekeeper again. She gasped quietly, fearful of what is about to come next. "No...go away."

"You need to see clearly and I'm going to make you see clearly." He walked over and opened the door. "Hi, we need some cleaning done."

"No! We don't!" Penelope begged.

The housekeeper smiled. "Marriage fight? Is it a yes or no?"

He pulled the housekeeper inside the room. "It's a yes." He adverted his attention over to Penelope, who was shaking her head with her eyes practically pleading him not to do anything. "You're about to see clearly now."

Penelope's eyes widened as she screamed. "No!"


	4. Chapter Four

**Thursday 12:20PM**

Luke has been standing inside of Penelope's office for twenty minutes now. While everybody else is busy putting certain information together, he decided to use the brief time to be alone. Whenever he's finally alone, it's where he can loosen his muscles and just relax. Let whatever emotion he is feeling to freely be released without worrying about the others. _It's hard_ , he admitted to himself. Everybody in the team has been so emotional that their minds aren't 100% into the case. It's not that he can't understand how they feel but it's more on the fact if he has the right to feel the same way as them. He's only been here for seven months. Not as close to the members as they are to each other. Sometimes he has to admit and think he's the odd one out. Not to mention that it isn't a secret Penelope Garcia isn't a fan of him. As confident as he is, a part of him worries that two days ago, it may have been probably be the last time he saw her. The last time he heard her voice, the last time for him to be around her antics.

His eyes wandered around the set of picture frames that she has laid out on her desk. In the photos, she has such a bright smile with the others. Luke closed his eyes briefly, wondering when will he ever get to see that smile again. "Agent Alvez," he opened his eyes to see Agent Grant Anderson standing by the doorway. "You have a phone call on line two."

"Thanks," Luke was about to take the phone call by using the one in Penelope's office but he paused. Deciding it's best for him to take the phone call at his desk in the bullpen, he walked out of the office. Sitting on his desk, he exhaled deeply as he picked up the phone. "This is Agent Luke Alvez."

"It's our fault that she's dead," a shaky and whispering voice spoke through the phone. "It's our fault, it's our fault, it's our fault."

Luke furrowed his eyebrows together as he stood up from the desk, searching for a pen and paper so he could write down anything that's going to be important. "Who is dead? Do you know where you are? Can I have - "

"It's our fault she's dead, Luke."

He halted and widened his eyes at the sound of Penelope's voice. "Penelope..." waving his available arm in the air to signal the others as he put the phone call onto speaker. "Penelope, is that you? Can you tell me where you are? What do you see?"

Derek rushed over. "Baby Girl? Where are you?"

"It's our fault," Penelope repeated over and over again. "No," she paused and the sounds of her breathing in and out heavily was loud and shaky. "It's my fault."

JJ took out a marker and a piece of paper before she started writing on it - **TRACE THE NUMBER!** Showing it to Timothy Wells, who was sitting and waiting before he was booked. As soon as Tim got the message, JJ focused back to the phone call. "Penelope, nothing is your fault. Tell us where you are please."

"I...I don't know." Penelope managed to say. "There's so much blood and - "

"Blood?" Derek asked. "Are you hurt?"

"It's not mine." Penelope started coughing nonstop as she cried even harder. "It's our fault, Luke. It's our fault."

Luke cleared his throat. "What's our fault? What did we do?"

"She's dead." Penelope softly said. "It's - " the sound of the door opening interrupted her and before anyone could ask what was going on, all they heard was Penelope screaming. Sounds of something being shuffled around covered the phone for more than two minutes. "No, no, no!"

"Penelope?!" Emily screamed. "What's going on?!"

The team froze and stayed silent when they heard the sound of someone getting smacked and Penelope screaming over being hurt. "Luke Alvez..." a different voice appeared on the phone, angry and determined. "I want to speak to Luke Alvez."

"This is Agent Luke Alvez," Luke answered right away. "May I know who I am speaking with?" Obviously, the Unsub isn't going to give away his name but by dragging the time using pointless questions - it gives Tim a chance to finish tracing the phone number. "Hello?"

"She's dead because of the both of you. I will make sure she carries the guilt with her as long as I'm here." The Unsub warned Luke. "You won't be able to take her away from me. You will never get to see her again." There was briefly a sound of him laughing. "She is starting to see everything clearly now, her mind is in the right direction."

Derek slammed his fists onto the table. "Listen, asshole! When I find you, I'll be the one that makes sure you will die in my hands!"

Luke put the phone call quickly on mute as he turned to look at Derek in anger. "You can't talk to him like that!"

"He has Penelope right now!" Derek wanted to put the phone call back to speaker when he was pushed by Luke. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"Making him angry is just going to make him hurt Penelope even more! You of all people should know that!" Luke warned him in a tone filled with frustration. "Back off! He is making direct communication to me so I'll be the only one that's talking."

"The hell you will," Derek shoved Luke away. "I will talk to him."

"Agent Morgan!" Luke screamed. For the past two days, he has held in a lot of frustration and anger that he's been feeling toward Derek's behavior and actions. Deciding to keep himself quiet was for the benefit of the team but as of right now, he can't hold it in anymore. "I am the only one that's professional enough to be doing this. You're too emotional!"

Derek glared at Luke. "What are you trying to say?"

"You need to get off this case," Luke looked at Derek with a hardened expression. "Or at least back off and let me do something that I know the rest of you can't at this moment." He could feel everybody's shocked expression and eyes on him. "I've been patient with you, every single one of you. Trying my best to work through your emotions. But if you can't be a professional agents like in any other case, you need to leave. I won't let you jeopardize a chance like this." He took a deep breath and closed his mouth, waiting for Derek to decide what to do. As Unit Chief, Emily took a deep breath before she dragged Derek away from the bullpen. As soon as they were gone, Luke put the phone call back onto speaker. "Hello?"

"If she doesn't listen to me again, there will be more death in your hands. Penelope should be wise by now." Before anyone else could say something, the phone went into dial tone.

JJ covered her face for a few seconds. "Do you think he really killed someone in front of her?" She can't imagine what went through Penelope's mind as she watched somebody die in front of her. In the past cases that they've worked together, Penelope never had it easy involving death. With such a fragile and pure soul for this cruel and dark world, Penelope can easily be broken mentally with guilt. "God, she's probably scared for her life right now."

"She was constantly blaming herself during the phone call," Rossi pointed out. "But why would she also say it was Luke's fault?"

Spencer looked at the display board. "We profiled him on not harming Garcia unless he feels as if he can't perfect or change her." He turned to briefly stare at the others. "We heard it. He was hitting her with his hand, smacking her around in anger."

"He's finally hitting the limit? Realizing that he can't change her?" JJ suggested while wiping the tears away from her face.

"No," Spencer answered. "I think he finally got to her, Garcia is broken now."

JJ looked worried. "How do you know?" Refusing to believe it, JJ placed her hands onto her hips. "Penelope's smarter than that. She's strong. You can't break Penelope even if you want to. You know how competitive she is, she won't give up."

Spencer truly wanted to believe in JJ's words but he has been in Penelope's position before. Watching someone die because of your choices or words that you said, it's not easy to get rid of that guilty feeling. "Her mind and the overwhelming guilt she is feeling is going to the right direction, _his direction_."

Luke tapped his fingers onto the table. "His anger was personally directed toward me. She must've said something involving me that made him lose it."

"What could it be?" Rossi asked.

"I found it," Tim stood up from his chair and looked at the team with widened shocked eyes. "I located where the phone call was coming from."

. . .

 **Thursday 12:49PM**

"What the heck is wrong with Agent Alvez?!" Derek demanded to know as he crossed his arms and looked at Emily. "I'm too emotional?! The problem is that he's too under emotional. Everybody is on the edge of their seats over Penelope being missing and he's the only calm one!"

Emily sighed. "Maybe that's for the best," she looked at Derek while shrugging her shoulders. "Look at us, Morgan. We're not ourselves since she went missing. Luke has been catching all the main points in this case. He's seeing and noticing things that we should've seen the first time too. He's the only one with his mind clearly on it. We're letting the emotions get the best of us and it could determine the end results of this case."

"So, what's going to happen?" Derek asked. "You're going to drop me from the case?"

"No," Emily denied. "Technically, you weren't even meant to be on the case." Derek was the one that brought himself into it. She never called for help or called for another recruitment. "I wouldn't do that. All I am saying is that we should try to control ourselves now." She looked through the glass doors at how Luke is standing by himself again. "And Derek, take it easy on him."

Derek took a deep breath. "Why?"

"He's as emotional as we are, trust me." Emily said.

Spencer rushed over to them with his jacket in his hands. "We found them. They're far but if we hurry, we can make it in time to save her."

. . .

 **Thursday 1:15PM**

Penelope stared at the dead body in front of her, it was tucked in a blanket but the blood is soaking it. She held out her hands, it's covered in dry blood. Silently turning her head over to the mirror, she looked at herself. With her hair tangled up and dry blood all over the dress shirt that she's wearing - this is the most messiest she has been since the last time she got shot. Taking a deep breath, she adverted her attention over to him, rushing around the motel room as he took some things from the fridge and into the duffel bag.

"They won't find us," he said while zipping the duffel bag and glancing at Penelope. "You thought you were smart, weren't you? Sneaking my cell phone out of my pockets while I was trying to cover the dead body?!" He looked between the dead body on the floor and Penelope. "They'll find this location but you won't be here. It'll be for nothing. Don't you get it?" He made his way over to the bed, sitting in front of her. His hands slowly caressing her face again with a brief smile. "Have you seen clearly now?"

She wanted to say no. She wanted to open her mouth and refuse to agree on what he wants her to see. As her eyes diverted over to the dead body on the floor, only a thousand questions were roaming around in her mind. Did she have a family? Kids? Husband? Were they depending on her for living support? Did she live a happy life? An upsetting one? Penelope started recalling the last few moments of the housekeeper, smiling at her when the door opened before she knew her fate. _She did live a happy life_ , she thought to herself. _And she's dead because of me_. She looked at the cell phone that he had broken in half after talking to the team. "Where are you taking me?"

"A place where we can be happy." He frowned when he ran his fingers over the red hand mark and bruises on Penelope's face. "I won't ever hurt you or anyone again," he paused with a stern expression. "As long as you listen to me."

Penelope blinked away her tears. "You won't hurt anyone else?"

"No," he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I am going to ask you again. Are you starting to see clearly now?"

She can't let anyone else die. She can't risk anyone's life just because she wants to be selfish and live. "Yeah," she nodded her head while visibly shaking from her illness. "Yes."

"Come on," he picked up some of the medicine that he had thrown earlier from the floor. "Let's take your medicine and leave."

 _Advil_. Penelope isn't someone with a medical degree herself but a simple advil isn't going to do anything to her. With her body going through hot and cold every few minutes, the coughing up blood constantly - there's only one conclusion she can come up with. She's going to die slowly if she doesn't go to the hospital or she's going to die by his own hands.

. . .

 **Thursday 1:30PM**

Five black SUVs and nine patrol cars drove into the motel's parking lot with their sirens loud and clear. Immediately, everybody jumped out of their cars and rushed over to the receptionist office. Derek looked at the manager and showed a picture of Penelope. "Has she been here? Have you seen her around?"

The manager stared at the picture in confusion. "I haven't seen this woman around here. The only people that's willing to come and stay at my cheap motel are men." She looked at the amount of cops outside the motel and agents inside the office. "Do you have a warrant to be here?"

Emily placed the warrant on the receptionist desk. "Look at the picture more carefully, please. You may have seen her but just a glimpse. Maybe dragged along with a man with a strong, average build. She probably looked as if she didn't want to be here - "

"Lady, most women who are here act like they don't want to be here." The manager started laughing as she blew onto her nails to let the nail polish dry. "Most people do have affairs and one night stands. My place isn't as fancy as - "

Derek knocked onto the desk furiously. "Either you tell us or we can bring you in for not renewing your motel license." He pointed over to the obvious outdated license that's displayed on the wall. "You got five seconds to decide on if you remembering if you saw her or not."

The manager quickly cleared her throat as she leaned over to take another closer look at the picture. "I'm not sure but I think I saw her around in the morning earlier. She wasn't awake but as if she was asleep or something. She was carried into their room by a man."

"What room?" Spencer asked.

"It wouldn't matter to you because they checked out." The manager answered. "Ten minutes ago."

"Damn it," Derek rushed out of the office and out onto the streets, his eyes scanning at the cars that were going by. "We missed them!"

Rossi sighed as he shook his head at the situation they were in. "We're always a little too late."

Luke didn't bother on expressing his own frustration as he walked back into the office. "The room."

"I didn't have the chance to clean it up yet but here you go," the manager handed over the room key. "It's in the back."

Emily looked at Luke. "You and JJ go check it out. Spencer and I will check out the video footages, maybe we can see what kind of car he is driving."

Luke nodded his head and walked along with JJ to the back of the motel's building. Scanning the back area, he could tell that this place is secluded enough for a murder to happen without anyone hearing or seeing anything. As he was about to turn the keys in the lock, JJ's hand wrapped around his wrist. "What is it?"

JJ tried to calm herself down as she spoke. "You...you don't think he killed Penelope, right?" No matter how much of a profile they have on this guy, it's still not enough to conclude if he's willing to murder Penelope. His stalking and affection for her can only last for so long.

"Don't think about it," Luke reassured her. "From the phone call, he wouldn't give up on Penelope." He turned the keys in the lock and opened the door. He paused once the door hit something hard. "There's a body." He bent down and carefully open the blanket up to see a housekeeper inside. "It's not her."

JJ closed her eyes briefly and drew a deep breath, a mixture of relief and worry runs down her spine. She had hoped that it wasn't true, she had hoped that Penelope didn't watch a murder happen in front of her. "She can't be dead more than an hour or so." She stepped over the dead body and looked around the motel room. Pieces of broken glass, the blankets and bedsheet on the bed was mixed up. "There was a struggle."

"He fought and beat her nonstop," Luke pointed out as he walked around the bed. Something caught his attention on the ground, using a pen to pick up the couple strands of blond hair. "She lost some hair."

"She's a fighter." JJ said to herself as she walked over to the bathroom. "He forced her to change clothes," putting on a pair of gloves, she picked up a dress shirt that was covered in blood. "She was wearing this in the footage we watched yesterday."

Luke tapped his foot on the ground, trying to understand and contemplate what was actually going on. "JJ, this is too simple."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it," he said as looked around the motel room. "He's a classic case of narcissism. He believes that he's more important than anyone else and he deserves Penelope's attention to him, _only him_. The admiration he has for Penelope isn't for her but _for him_." Luke snapped his fingers to get his brain working. "The whole point of wanting to perfect or change her isn't for her benefit but for _only his_. He lacks knowledge and understanding of who she is and how she lives her life. And as long as he has her, he's going to keep taunting us. He personally sends a video footage of Penelope trapped in the basement before he left. He purposely leaves a tablet at Franklin Bolt's house to let us know he's always watching." He paused as he glanced at JJ, to see if she is understand what he's saying.

JJ nodded her head. "He always leaves a present before he does something."

Luke sighed. "Exactly."

"But what could it be? The motel's room is as small as it is. Besides the body, there's nothing else in here that he could've left." JJ said.

"If we check under the - " that's when something clicked in Luke's mind. "The body, JJ." He grabbed the pair of gloves from his back pocket and swiftly placed it on before he bent down in front of the dead body. "Help me move the body."

JJ held onto the legs and lifted the body out of the blanket. "Do you see something?"

"Piece of paper," Luke grabbed it before putting the body back down. "It's an address." Furrowing his eyebrows together as it's an unknown address to him. "457 Sunlight Drive."

"What?"

Luke glanced at JJ. "457 Sunlight Drive," he repeated with confusion. "What is it, JJ?"

"That's my address." JJ immediately got up and ran out of the motel room. Rushing over to the black SUV that she was in, she grabbed her cellphone that was in the cup holder. "Come on, pick up." She could feel every single hair on her body sticking out as fear overcame her body.

Emily and the others immediately rushed over as soon as Luke informed them. "JJ, what's going on?"

"Will isn't picking up the home phone or his cell phone." JJ said. "What if the Unsub did something to them?!" Images of her husband and precious two kids kept replaying in his mind.

Rossi held onto JJ's hands to stop her from freaking out. "Alright, we can drive to your house right now. Let's check up on them." He looked at Emily. "I will call you as soon as we arrive."

"What is this?" Derek asked as soon as Rossi and JJ drove out of the motel's parking lot and back onto the road. He looked at the others, frustrated and angry over the lack of results they got on this trip. "What is going on?"

Spencer tapped his fingers against his gun holster, trying to think. "He's playing with us," he looked at them. "The more we keep playing this cat and mouse game with him, keeping him from being with Garcia - the more tricks he is going to show us that he has hidden."

. . .

 **Thursday 2:00PM**

 _It's the dark again_ , she thought. _I'm back in the dark, trapped and alone_. Penelope blinked her eyes several times as she laid on the dirty mattress in the middle of the truck's container. She used to think she was a fighter. She wanted to believe that she would never give up with someone clenching onto the decision on whether to end her life or not. _JJ taught her how to be a survivor, Reid taught her how to be smart, Emily taught her the power of being persistent, Rossi taught her how to be selfish and unselfish for her own benefits, Derek taught her how to be strong not only from the outside but the inside. And Luke taught her how to have patience._ Those are the constant reminders she had running through her head in the three days she has been kidnapped. It's what kept her mostly alive and not wanting to give up. But as the days does carry on and her health declining more than she can handle, she feels done.

Her eyelids are starting to become heavy again. This time, she can't force to make them open anymore. This is it, she thought to herself. I've lived a good life. Her breathing starts calming down as she felt her body telling her to sleep, to follow the light that she sees up ahead. _Light_ , she quietly thought. _There's light._

. . .

 **Thursday 3:00PM**

JJ walked into the bullpen with Michael in her arms with Will LaMontagne behind her, holding hands with Henry. "They're okay."

Derek sighed out of relief as soon as he saw her little family. "What was it? Why did he wrote a note of your address to us?"

"I can answer that," Rossi walked in with a box in his arms. Placing the box on the desk in front of him, he looked at everybody. "Sent by unknown but we can already guess who it's from. He wanted this to be sent to her address."

"Did you open it?" Spencer stood up.

"No," Rossi tore off the tape before opening the box. "It's..."

"Daisies." Luke interrupted. Inside the box was a bundle of daisies and a note on the bottom. " _Every blond deserves to have daisies because they're beautiful._ "

Will cleared his throat. "What does that mean?"

"He's taunting us." Emily concluded. "Basically he is saying that if he can kidnap Garcia without us being able to catch him in three days so far. There will be no problem for him to kidnap JJ if he wants to."

"Does he?" Will asked, a little alarmed at the situation that he's suddenly facing. "Does he want to kidnap JJ next? Do I have to worry for my wife being in danger?"

JJ held onto Will's hands. "It's okay, we're safe. Nothing will happen to me."

Spencer shook his head. "This doesn't make sense," he walked over to the board and frowned. "He's a narcissist. Unless it doesn't benefit him, he wouldn't dare to do or say something like this. He stalked Garcia for a year, he wouldn't just risk something like sending a package to JJ by warning us about a future kidnapping."

"Because he would never kidnap JJ," Luke said. "It's not something he would do."

JJ looked at them. "Then it was just a taunt? A scare?"

Derek's eyes widened. "A distraction."

"Damn it," Luke quickly grabbed his jacket along with Derek. "Penelope's apartment."

. . .

 **Thursday 3:30PM**

Derek opened the door to Penelope's apartment and froze. Everything inside her apartment was emptied out. There is nothing but colorful walls and cold air. "He took everything," shaking his head at what's in front of her. "Every single thing that she owned in this apartment is gone."

"He knew that we would be too worried over JJ and used it as a distraction for him to come by and take all of Penelope's things." Luke inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to understand this. "But why? He drove four cities away to be in the motel only to drive back to grab Penelope's things? Why the distance? Why bother? If he wanted to change her, he wouldn't do this."

"Unless he knew he couldn't change her anymore and he thought of a way that could only work." Derek said. "To bring home to her and force her to change."

. . .

 **Thursday 4:20PM**

Penelope opened her eyes to find herself in a similar bedroom. Feeling confused on why she would be back to her apartment, she slowly got up on the bed. She turned her head around to look at everything. Not a single thing was missing. It's an exact replica of her bedroom. A smile quickly appeared on her face at the realization that she's back home. "I'm back home," she said to herself before standing up. Making her way around the room, she couldn't help but laugh. Has this been nothing but a dream? A very long nightmare like dream? The sound of someone opening the door distracted her thoughts and her smile dropped instantly when he showed up with a platter of cookies. "It's not a dream."

"Of course it's not," he chuckled as he placed down the platter of cookies on the bed. "You should eat."

"Where am I?" Penelope asked.

"Home." He bit into one of the cookies and tilted his head sideways. "Our new home."

Penelope looked at her little cat figurines, the ones she called her safe heaven. With them, it helps her relax from the pictures she saw everyday during work. Now, standing in a room that's an exact replica of her old one with a kidnapper by her side - those cat figurines would never be able to help her be calm anymore. "Why...how..." she didn't even know what to say. "Are we still in Virginia?"

"I'm not going to answer that," he glared at her. "Remember what you said? You are still seeing everything clearly now, right?"

It wasn't a dream, it never was. "I remember." Walking back over to the bed reluctantly, she sat down across from him. She watched as he ate the cookie while looking around the room. "Did you do this...all for me?"

"Of course," he smiled. "Anything for you. I know what you like and although I'm not happy with some of the things you like but it's okay. I'll let you carry on with these things for a few days. After that, we'll restart and change."

"You keep saying that you want to change me," Penelope coughed. Why hasn't she died yet? She was really hoping the moment when she closed her eyes back in the container that it was the end of her. She gave up at that moment back there so why is she still alive here? "What do you want to change?"

He ignored her question and put the platter of cookies aside. "Let's introduce ourselves." He held onto her hands, squeezing it. "My name's Jacob."

Jacob? Did she know a Jacob? Has she met him before and she forgot? Is this why he's like this? Because she accidentally forgot about him? Deciding that its best to play along, she cleared her throat. "I'm Pene - "

"No, no, no," Jacob breathed in deeply. "From this day onward, you are not Penelope anymore."

She knit her eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

"Daisy."

"Daisy?" Penelope repeated.

"You are Daisy now."

. . .

 **Thursday 9:00PM**

Luke twirled the glass of whiskey around as he exhaled. After hours of intense discussion and thinking of possibilities about the Unsub and where Penelope could be, Emily sensed that the team was all tired out. She ordered another rest time and for them to show up bright early in the morning. He couldn't bear to leave the area of the BAU, not when anything could happen. He drove his car around for a few minutes around the neighborhood before parking at the nearby bar.

"Another glass?" The bartender asked Luke.

"Make it two," Derek showed up and sat next to him. "Thought I would be the only one here."

Luke softly chuckled. "I guess both of us can't manage to take the case off our minds." He took the new glass of whiskey that the bartender pour for them. "Beer would be nice right now but a strong drink is better for the mind."

"Yeah, I agree." Derek cleared his throat as he took a sip of the whiskey. "Look, I want to personally apologize for my behavior. After what happened this afternoon, I noticed that I have been showing you some hostility."

"Some?" Luke glanced at Derek before briefly laughing. "I'm joking. Honestly, I should be the one to apologize. I overstepped my boundaries and I shouldn't have. The way you guys are feeling about Penelope being missing, I should've been more understanding about it. She is your bestfriend."

"She's your friend too." Derek reminded him. "Even if she doesn't show it."

Luke took a sip of the whiskey before breathing deeply. "It would be nice to hear the word 'friend' from her." Since being in the BAU and with the team for seven months, he has never heard Penelope call him a friend.

Derek tapped his fingers against the table, contemplating on what he should do. "I'm breaking a really deep friendship code if I show you this but," he took out his phone and clicked on old messages that he had exchanged with Penelope for months. "This is how she felt about you."

 _Is he nice - Morgan_  
 _He's annoying and always smiling - Penelope_  
 _That is a bad thing ? - Morgan_  
 _Well he's annoying - Penelope_  
 _Ahaha is he a friend? do you see him as a friend? - Morgan_  
 _No why would I? It's only been 3 months - Penelope_  
 _Do you dislike him? - Morgan_  
 _Maybe I hate him - Penelope_  
 _HA, text me again when you're not lying to yourself - Morgan_  
 _What do you mean - Penelope_  
 _You know as much as I do that you're incapable of hating somebody - Morgan_  
 _I hate profilers, I really do - Penelope_

Luke gave the phone back and shrugged his shoulders. "She's not a fan of me," he took another sip of the whiskey. "The messages proves that."  
Derek laughed. "For someone who has been on the top of his game, pointing out all the evidence that we missed out on. You do seem oblivious to everything else around you besides work."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe that's what you two have in common," Derek said. "Not being able to realize your own feelings and being way too oblivious about the person who feel the same way."

Luke couldn't understand a single thing that Derek just said. "I'm confused."

Derek nodded his head while smiling, the first genuine smile he has had in three day. Motioning his hand over to the bartender for another set of drinks. "Of course you are."

. . .

 **Thursday 11:19PM**

Penelope hurried and rushed over to the front door. Unlocking the four different locks as tears streamed down her face, she started screaming when she heard him running down the hallways of the house. As soon as she got the locks unlocked, she opened the door - only for her to be pulled back once he wrapped his arms around her waist. "No!" Using the last amount of strength, she kicked him on the face. "Let me go!" The kick sent his head hitting against the wall harshly. Using that brief chance, Penelope started crawling on the floor and out of the door. "HELP! HELP!" Her voice is shaky and scratchy from being sick but she still tried her best to scream.

"Daisy!" He was screaming from the front door.

"That's not my name!" Penelope screamed back as she started running faster once he was back onto his feet. She fell onto the dirt when a light came out of nowhere, briefly blinding her for a few seconds. _Light_ , she immediately thought to herself. _Follow the light_. She has been reminding herself what everybody in the team has taught her but she had forgotten someone else - Aaron Hotchner. _He has taught her that no matter what pain an Unsub had given her, she still has to fight to win. It's not about winning for herself but it's about knowing that she won against the Unsub_. Penelope turned her head around to see him almost reaching her, this time he had something that looks like a bat in his hand. Shaking her head, she got up from the dirt and ran toward the light up ahead. She's not going to give up, not this time. Tears stained her face as she became closer to the light. "Hey! I need help!" As she waved her arms in the air, she realized that the car with headlights doesn't see her coming. And before she knew it, her body is thrown in the air by the car's impact.

. . .

 **Friday 12:15AM**

"I think I'm drunk," Derek said after losing count on the drinks he had. Exhaling deeply, he covered his face with his hands. "It's been a while since I was able to drink like this." Since having a wife and a baby to take care of, most of the life that he was used to vanished. He made himself busy with the housework because he missed working on the field so much. He just never thought in a million years that the first case back he's taking would be Penelope. "My wife is probably waiting for me."

Luke nodded his head. "I should get home to my dog too." Placing a couple of bills on the bar counter. As he was about to stand up from the bar stool, he felt his phone vibrated. "Prentiss?"

"Are you with Derek? Why isn't he picking up his phone?"

Seeing that it's an emergency, he put the phone on speaker. "Agent Morgan's with me."

"My phone's dead, Prentiss." Derek said as he rubbed his temples. "What is it? Did something happen?"

"We got a phone call from the hospital. They said someone that fits the exact description of Garcia arrived in their emergency room. They're saying it's a car accident and she's in surgery. We're on our way right now. You two should too."

Derek and Luke looked at each other. "We're leaving now."

. . .

 **Friday 1:45AM**

"How is she?" Emily asked as soon as the surgeon left the operation room. "Is she okay?"

The surgeon sighed. "She had a lot of internal bleeding due to the impact of the car accident but she'll be fine."

"Thank God," JJ cried as she hugged Spencer. "Thank God."

"Uh," the surgeon cleared his throat. "As I was operating on her, I noticed a few bruises and severe bleeding in her lungs. At first, I thought it was from the accident but it seems as if she had breathed in something toxic - causing her to probably cough up blood most of the time." He immediately held his hands up to calm the agents down as soon as he saw their fearful expressions. "She's fine. I cleared everything."

Luke looked at the surgeon, the way his eyes were going side to side as if he was struggling on saying something else. "There's something else you're not saying. What is it?"

The surgeon sighed. "As soon as she's out of surgery and wakes up from the medicine, none of you can't go in her room for a while."

"Why?" Rossi questioned.

"A nurse will be going into her room - " the surgeon began to say. "Penelope Garcia will need a rape kit done."

"What?" Everybody asked in unison.

Emily looked at her team. "It's okay. It's standard procedure."

"I actually noticed something while I was operating," the surgeon took a look at the team. "I believe that before the car accident, Penelope was sexually assaulted a few minutes before."

It was like their hearts dropped and shattered onto the ground. They thought their nightmare was over when they received a phone call about Penelope being in the hospital. She was finally going to be safe and back in the arms of the team members. The team spread apart when the operating room's doors opened. Penelope came out being pushed in a gurney past the team and into her own ward room. In actuality, their worst nightmare is about to begin for all of them.


	5. Chapter Five

**Friday 10:56AM**

"I didn't mean to hit her," a young man said as he wrapped his arms around himself while staring at the agents. "It was dark and I swear she came out of nowhere. I called the police as soon as I did." He groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. "Is she dead?"

"She's recovering in the hospital," Emily reassured the driver. "We called you back to the scene because there are a couple of other questions that we have to ask you."

The driver furrowed his eyebrows. "Anything."

Rossi looked around the secluded desert highway. "Was there someone around after the car accident?"

"Someone around?" The driver sighed as he tried to rethink about what happened earlier. "It was just her."

"Where was she running? Where did she come from?" JJ asked.

"Uh, I was driving in this direction." He pointed toward the lane that he was on and indicated his other arm to where he saw Penelope running. "She came from there. Within seconds, I felt my car hit her and I stomped on the brakes immediately."

Luke looked at the road they were standing on and narrowed his eyes at the other intersection they have up ahead. "Are you familiar with this road?"

"I drive on it everyday from work." The driver said. "First time I've experienced a car accident like this though."

"This place is much like a desert but I'm sure there are a few houses, right?" Luke questioned.

The driver nodded his head. "Only about four houses, the market around this area isn't doing so well. I'm a real estate agent, I would know."

"Small community then." Emily concluded. "Where is the community?"

"That road right there," he nodded his head over to a road sign called Lincoln St. Only area that you can see houses for miles. Not much people live there. As far as I know, they're all senior citizens. You know old people, they love their space."

Rossi arched an eyebrow at the words senior citizen. He glanced at the others, feeling as if they should definitely take on this new lead. "Franklin Bolt was a senior citizen that lived in a pretty enclosed area."

"Let's go." Emily said.

. . .

 **Friday 12:10PM**

Deciding that it was best if somebody took turns on watching over Penelope as the others carry on the investigation, Derek and Spencer were the lucky ones to start the first day. It's been almost eight hours since Penelope has arrived to the hospital. After surgery, she was in a brief induced coma for several hours. With the doctor's orders, none of them could come in until the nurse finished a rape kit. Knowing that a friend of theirs has to go through something like that it's extremely heart breaking. An hour or so went by and Penelope drifted off to sleep again. The doctor said that they have to give her strong medicine in order for pain to easily go away. The medicine causes heavy amount of sleep which is no problem because who knows if Penelope ever actually got to sleep the last three days.

"How do you think she is feeling?" Spencer asked as they sat in the waiting room. "Do you think she is going to be better?"

Derek tapped his fingers against the armchair as he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he looked at Spencer and sighed. "The nurse hasn't come back with the results of the kit yet."

"The doctor seems certain that it'll come back with results we won't like." Spencer hated to be the words of bad luck but it's the truth. When Penelope was asleep in the room, he caught a glimpse of her from the glass window. She doesn't look okay, she doesn't even look as if she could breath. Spencer has been working with Penelope for as long as he can remember and for the first time, he had no witty remarks to save for her. Mainly because he doesn't what to say. "Do you think she wants to see us?"

"Kid, enough with the twenty questions." Derek hated being mean to Reid but right now, his mind is going crazy. Since knowing Penelope, he has never seen her like this. Sure, there was that year when she was shot by a crazy bastard. But that cannot be compared to how she is now. This situation is by far so different and raw that it's not easy to talk about. This Unsub has caused so much pain to Penelope emotionally and physically that it could scar her for life. Most victims he knows that went through what she did, they become different from their usual self. And as he sits here in the waiting room, he couldn't help but wonder if Penelope would do that. Would she start changing? Would she start approaching life without smiling or laughing anymore? The little unique antics that she used to surround herself with all the time, would that be gone?

"Agents," Derek and Spencer looked up to see a nurse at the waiting room's doorway. "She's very adamant about not wanting to see you guys. I'm sorry. I tried my best."

Derek frowned. "Did you tell her that it was Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid?"

The nurse nodded her head. "Yes. To be honest, it'll be for the best if you didn't see her right now anyway. Since she woke up, she has been under the blankets. Half the time, she's either crying or staring at the ceiling. Being alone is probably better for her health wise."

Spencer sighed. "We understand." As the nurse walked away, Spencer looked at Derek, who was clearly upset about not being about to see Penelope. "She just needs time, Morgan."

"How much time?" Derek asked. "We're her friends, the people who has her back. Does she think we'll hurt her?"

"I think she thinks everything is bad for her right now. I've been where she is emotionally before, my situation is a lot different but I can understand the feeling she has creeping on her. The fact that she doesn't want to see anyone, it is for the best. Give her time to collect her thoughts and when she's ready - I bet the first person she wants to see is you."

Derek sat back down. "Alright. Let's just keep waiting then."

. . .

 **Friday 12:45PM**

The team halted their steps in front the last house they haven't checked out. The driver was right, this place is just a small community. Every single house that they have checked so far homes belongs to senior citizens. None of those houses called for plausible cause to go inside and search. After a couple of minutes of walking in the heat, the only house left is the most secluded one. "This is it," JJ said as she took off her sunglasses. "If this is another dead end, we'll have to wait until Garcia is willing to tell us where she was. That's counting on if she could remember."

Luke scanned the property, his eyes taking a closer look at the dirt and the surrounding areas. "Doesn't this place scream something wrong?"

Emily took a deep breath as she took off her own sunglasses. "What do you mean?"

He walked around the skid marks on the dirt, rushed and messy. "Somebody was in a rush." Luke bent down and narrowed his eyes at the tire marks. "The wheels looks as if it belongs to an SUV, at least a car with four doors." Continuing on walking around the driveway, he paused and glanced at what he saw in front of him. "Guys, there's blood. It's dry but it's still blood."

"That gives us plausible cause to check inside," Rossi said as he took out his gun from the holster. "Be alert."

Everybody took out their guns as they slowly made their way to the front door. "Federal agents!" Emily called out after pounding her fist onto the door. As she lift her hand to pound on the door once again, the door slowly opened on it's own. She looked at the others. "Let's be careful." She stepped inside the house and walked into the living room, her eyes and gun alert. "Clear!"

JJ stepped out from one of the rooms. "Clear!"

Rossi came out from the kitchen. "Clear!"

"There's an upstairs," Luke informed them as he went up the stairs. "Do you - " he hesitated as there was an odor coming from one of rooms on the second floor. "You smell that?"

JJ followed behind him and sighed. "I'm so used to that smell that it's easy to pinpoint what it is now."

Luke made his way upstairs and opened the door to the nearest bedroom. As soon as the door opened, he scoffed in disbelief. "We were right," the bedroom was an exact replica of Penelope's own bedroom. "He brought home to her."

"God, he's disturbing." Emily said as she walked in. Her eyes adverted over to the bed, the blankets and bedsheet were all on the floor. "There was a struggle."

Rossi shook his head as he walked past every single figurines and personal items of Penelope's in the room. "She's never going to want to see these again."

JJ appeared at the doorway with her hand covering her mouth. "The smell is coming from the master bedroom." Disgust was written on her face as she tied her hair into a ponytail. "It's probably the family that lived here," she cleared her throat as she struggled to say her next words. "Elderly couple with grandchildren. Looks as if they've been dead for more than a month or so."

Emily closed her eyes before she took our her phone. "We'll have to call forensic team in here." Right off the bat, the house was already a disaster when they walked in. The mess can only come from what seems like a struggle, a hard fought one.

"Guys - " JJ looked at her team with worry in her eyes. "Penelope knew he killed one person, the housekeeper in front of her. Knowing how she is as a person, if she found out that he has killed more than three people so far. Do you think she - "

Luke sighed as he interrupted. "If she would put the blame on herself?" There is no doubt that it would be exactly how Penelope would feel if she found out everything about this guy.

. . .

 **Friday 2:00PM**

Derek couldn't believe what he just heard after the others came back from the house. "A family?" A little over three days ago, he and the team had believe that they were just dealing with a stalker turned kidnapper. As the investigation continues and more information are being discovered, they're dealing with a much smarter person than they thought. With the seven bodies that were found so far, who knows how many more are out there that was murdered by him? "He's a narcissistic serial killer on the loose who has his eyes on only Penelope." He shook his head out of frustration. "This is just great."

"There was a struggle in the house?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah," JJ answered. "Penelope definitely didn't leave without fighting."

The team turned their attention over to the doctor and nurse who were walking toward them. "Agents." He cleared his throat as he held onto a clipboard, his eyes looking at each and every single one of them. "The results from the kit finally arrived."

Emily stood up. "Yes?" It wasn't a secret that they were all nervous and fearful for the worst. Having one of their own to go through this isn't what they wished upon anyone.

"I am sorry to say this but," he paused briefly as he flipped through the clipboard. "There was obvious tearing and semen found during the kit."

Derek punched the wall. "Damn it!"

JJ immediately sat back down and cried. "Garcia..."

"Can you give us the sample of the semen?" Spencer asked. "We can ask our forensic team to run it."

"Of course," he handed him a bag and paperwork for it. "I knew that you would eventually ask me for it." The doctor could see that the agents were clearly upset and distraught over the news. "If it makes you feel better, she fought hard. It wasn't easy for her but I think it's what gave her the chance to run away."

"How do you know?" Luke asked.

The doctor closed the clipboard and sighed. "I'm no expert but one of the tearing she did have, it can only happen if..." he cleared his throat and gave Emily a brief look, hoping for her to understand. "She pushed and probably pulled hard. At that moment, she thought of that as the only answer to the situation."

Rossi scoffed. "Penelope is going to heal, right?"

"The tearing seems really severe, it'll take months for her to heal externally and internally." The doctor explained. "She'll be in constant pain and - "

"Doctor..." Everybody adverted their attention over to Penelope, who was standing by the doorway to the waiting room. "I would like to talk to you."

"Of course, Miss Garcia." The doctor walked over to her. "Is there something you need?"

Penelope briefly looked at the team, the group of people who she dearly loves and cares for but as of this moment, she didn't want to see anyone. She knew that she should go over and hug each one of them because that's what she would do. Things are different now. Glancing back over to the doctor as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Alone."

The doctor glanced between Penelope and the team. "Uh, we can go to my office." He showed the way through the hallways and over to his office. "What is it, Miss Garcia?"

"Did I get tested?" Penelope asked softly.

"Excuse me?" The doctor furrowed his eyebrows in confusion for a few seconds before he fully understood what she meant. "Ah, yes. It is our standard procedure to test victims for those diseases." He folded his hands on top of the desk. "The nurses also made sure to let you take some pills, it helps prevent any diseases from forming due to the..." he stopped talking as he knew the word would probably be hard for her to digest. "Are you alright?"

Penelope blinked her eyes as the word _victim_ processed through her mind. "Victim." She said softly to herself. "I was a victim before."

"I'm sorry?"

She glanced up from her hands and looked straight into the doctor's eyes. "I was shot almost ten years ago. Death was literally hovering over me. My whole body went limp while I was going in and out of consciousness. That was the first time I fell into that category," she paused as she started peeling at the dry skin on her hands. "The victim category. Of course, I was only considered as a shot victim but it was still scary and upsetting to know that I worked so hard in my life to only be considered as one word to represent me. Victim." Feeling suddenly cold and tired, she clenched onto the end of the hospital gown. "Victim. I don't really like that word, doctor." She returned her gaze to him. "I was just getting used to not being called that word and then this happened. I get kidnapped, tortured, starved and..." she didn't want to say it. "I've become a victim again and I hate it so much."

"Miss Garcia, everything will get easier from this day forward." The doctor reassured her with a slight frown on his face. "You have an amazing group of people outside in the waiting room for you. You're in safe hands and nothing will happen to you again."

Penelope thought about what he said but she shook her head. "You're wrong. You want to know why you're wrong?" Seeing as how he wasn't responding to her, she continued talking. "Because I was in my safe zone when I got kidnapped. I was in my little office with my little figurines inside a building that is considered one of the safest places in the United States. It didn't matter. I still got kidnapped."

The doctor narrowed his eyes at her. "You can't let yourself get suck in this self-guilt, Miss Garcia. It won't do any good for you mentally."

"I watched a woman die in my arms because of what I said," Penelope clenched her teeth as she was started to become visibly shaky. The memory of how she died has been playing over and over in her head since it happened. Even with these clean hands in front of her right now, all she sees is the poor woman's blood all over it. Worse of all, no matter how much she looks at herself in front of the mirror, all she sees is what happened on that horrific bed in that house. "I decided to argue back with the kidnapper by being a smart ass when I should've kept my mouth shut in the first place. If I didn't open my mouth, that woman would've still been alive. She would've been home with her family, smiling and laughing. Instead, she's laying in a morgue somewhere, waiting to be buried deep under the ground. While I'm here, sitting across from you - alive." She abruptly stood up from her seat and took a deep breath as she made her way over to the door. "Nothing will ever do me any good anymore."

. . .

 **Monday 10:30PM**

It's not a secret that it has been a rough couple of days. Three days has passed since Penelope came back but she still refuses to see the team members. With the help of the doctor and nurses, they managed to get a sketch of the Unsub from her. The routine of standing guard at the hospital was still going on and it won't end until the guy is caught. Tara Lewis and Stephen Walker eventually came back from their week long training. With extra brains and hands into the investigation, everybody became relieved but it didn't last long. The investigation has reached to the point of exhaustion and lost of hope for the members. Each lead has resulted into nothing but frustration and anger. The DNA from the semen wasn't in the system so he's either never done anything as extreme as this or he's just haven't been caught.

By the orders of the superiors, Emily has been forced to put the case into the back end of everything else. Starting tomorrow, the team will have to start working on other cases. She has tried to fought with words and evidence that the media won't let this case go down until they catch the guy. It wasn't like she didn't try but the superiors weren't having it. "I'm sorry." Emily informed the members as she exhaled deeply. "I spent four hours with them in that conference room but they just won't give in."

Rossi scoffed. "Typical higher authority trying to divert the attention away from a case that's the one in most need." He shook his head as he turned to look briefly at Penelope's hospital room. "Have you told her?"

Emily sighed. "She won't see me. I did inform the nurses on nightshift about the news and they will tell her when they go in to give her routine medicine." She looked at Derek, who has been silent since she told them. "Morgan, I tried my best."

Derek cleared his throat. "It's alright. I understand that you can't do something about it once it's out of your hands." Checking the time on his watch, he tapped his foot on the floor. "I should go home. Savannah and the baby hasn't seen me for almost a week. I'll be back in the morning for briefing on the new case."

JJ couldn't take her eyes away from Penelope's hospital room. She can't understand why Penelope wouldn't see them. At least out of everyone, can't she be willing to see her or Derek? "I should get home too," she quickly put on her jacket as she yawned. "Will needs his sleep and I can't keep staying out like this."

"I'll take you home." Derek offered as he zipped up his jacket. "See you guys tomorrow."

Rossi also bid his goodbyes with Tara and Stephen following behind him. As soon as they were gone, Emily turned to Spencer. "Where do you need to go?" Everybody's priority has been about Penelope and this case that the members has put aside some of their own personal problems. Now with Penelope safely in the hospital and the case is officially put on hold, as Unit Chief - she wants to make sure that the other members get their own things done. "If you need to go, Spencer - "

Spencer shook his head. "I can stay."

"It's not your turn to keep and stay on guard," Emily explained. "You stayed here last night with me. If you need to go home, go."

"Are you sure?" Spencer asked. "I don't want to leave Luke alone in the waiting room."

Luke shrugged his shoulders as he drew a deep breath. "Don't worry about it, Reid. You've been keeping on watch more than the rest of us." Spencer doesn't say much about personal emotions than he does with intelligence. But anyone who has seen Spencer in the last few days, they can tell that he has been on the edge of his seat lately. "She won't even see or talk to us," Luke continued. "You won't miss anything besides sleep if you stay."

Spencer nodded his head. "Okay. Call me if anything comes up."

"I'll drive you." Emily looked at Luke, a little worried about him. "How about you? Are you sure you can stay on guard yourself tonight?"

Luke chuckled as he nodded his head. "I got my jacket and a good book to keep me up."

Emily looked through the window one more time to check Penelope. "She'll be fine eventually, right?"

"I don't know." Luke didn't want to lie. He has seen the other members trying to go into the room but were immediately pushed away by the nurses when Penelope kept screaming. "She just needs time." Emily nodded her head in agreement before she waved goodbye with Spencer following behind. As soon as he was left alone in the waiting room, Luke sat down on the nearest chair and closed his eyes.

While everybody else has tried to see Penelope despite her refusal, Luke is the only one that hasn't tried. A part of him feels as if it would be useless after seeing Penelope's mental health on the first day in the waiting room. Another part of him is just fear - he's scared that she would refuse to see him like the others. But mainly, he's scared that she wouldn't be the same Penelope Garcia that he knew and grown to love be around with in the last seven months. Her laughter, her smile, her small antics as she spoke back in witty remarks - he wants to see all of that again but he knew, deep inside of him, he knew that as soon as he sees her, it wouldn't happen. That contagious smile wouldn't look the same, that sweet sound of her bright laughter wouldn't echo in his ears and those witty remarks wouldn't feel as amusing as they were before.

His thoughts were distracted when a nurse ran out from her desk and straight into Penelope's room. A hand on top of his holster, ready and alarmed - he rushed over to the doorway and watched as Penelope start screaming.

"Penelope! Everything's okay! Please calm down!" The nurse struggled to hold back Penelope as she kept screaming and kicking her legs in the air. She was having a nightmare, the same nightmare she has been having since she returned. "Penelope! Shhhhh, it's okay! Please wake up." Luke inched a step into the room, ready to help out the nurse since it seems as if she is useless but the nurse immediately looked at him. "No! You need to step back, agent! She will freak out even more if you come in here!"

"What's happening?" Luke asked, his tone filled with worry and confusion. It's his first day to stand in guard and he hasn't heard anything of Penelope having nightmares like this. "Is she okay?!" He moved aside when the doctor and another nurse rushed into the room, helping the previous nurse. "Is she okay?!" Luke repeated.

The doctor took out a syringe and pinched it into Penelope's arm. For a few seconds, Penelope was still screaming until the syringe took in effect and she calmed down. "Alright. Let her go." Once the nurses backed away, the doctor drew a deep breath and turned his attention over to Luke. "Agent, she's fine."

"Has this been happening on a regular basis?" Luke furrowed his eyebrows.

The doctor nodded his head. "When her afternoon medicine dies down, she starts sleeping and have the same nightmare again. I don't know what she is seeing her sleep but we can all assume that it isn't pretty." He wiped a few drops of sweat from his face. "Health wise, she's still weak."

"What did you just give her?"

"Just something to calm her down and have her return to sleep," the doctor briefly turned to look at Penelope again. "It won't last long. She'll eventually wake up in a few minutes and do the same thing she always does."

"Screaming and kicking?"

"Sometimes. It's either a nightmare or just laying in her bed and staring at the ceiling nonstop." The doctor checked his watch. "I have another patient to check up on. Have a good night, Agent."

Luke nodded his head and stepped back when the doctor closed the door. He stepped aside and looked at Penelope through the windows. She's sleeping so soundly. Feeling tired himself, he looked down to make sure his handgun was perfectly in place of the holster. Walking back over to the waiting room, he sat back down and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

. . .

 **Monday 2:00AM**

Luke closed the book he finished reading and stood up to relax his tense muscles. Deciding that it's best if he went to get a cup of coffee, he walked out of the waiting room - making sure to check Penelope's room on the way to see that she's fine. "Hello," he said as he walked past other nurses. "Morning."

"Coffee?" The nurse handed him a cup of coffee. "You look tired, Agent."

He briefly chuckled as he took a sip of the coffee. "I'm alright."

The nurse looked at his hands and smiled. "I don't see a ring."

He arched an eyebrow at the sudden statement. "Uh, yeah." Luke cleared his throat as he took another sip of the coffee. "I haven't been married."

"Are you dating anyone at the moment?"

Luke shook his head, noticing that this conversation is hitting the note of uncomfortableness. "No. I'm single."

The nurse giggled. "Are you interested in anyone? Do you have anyone in mind that you like?"

He opened his mouth to answer no but he stopped. Suddenly, the only images playing in his head after the question is Penelope. Her smiles in the elevator every time she teased him. Her laughter every time when she managed to get a witty remark toward him. A smile silently spread across his face, a little surprise that he would think of those moments at the moment. "I actually don't know but," he shrugged his shoulders. "I think I do have someone in mind."

A frown immediately appeared on her face. "I see."

"Sorry," Luke softly said as he placed the empty cup of coffee back on the table and turned to walk back to the waiting room. He halted his steps when he saw Penelope walking out of her own room. "Pene - " he paused and decided to just follow her. Not knowing where she is going, he kept silent as they walked through several hallways and up a couple of staircases. Checking his watch, over five minutes has passed by now. "Rooftop..." he said to himself as soon as he walked past the sign, indicating that they're about to be on the rooftop. "Penelope!"

She halted her steps. Without turning around, she sat down on the edge of the ledge on the rooftop. "I'm fine. I'm not going to jump if that's what you're worried about."

Feeling uneasy on if she's lying or not, Luke narrowed his eyes around the scenery in front of them. He didn't know that the sky would be this beautiful at two in the morning. "How...how are you feeling?" Silence went by without an answer. "Alright. You just want quiet, right?" He cleared his throat and walked over to the edge, sitting next to her on the ledge.

Penelope watched as the street lights flickered on and off below her. The sounds of cars zooming past them as it's the only time in the day where they can freely speed without worrying. The blinking stars above her, begging for a wish. She exhaled deeply and spread out her arms, letting the cold wind breeze past her.

Luke watched her carefully, the way she was acting and behaving. A small smile appeared on his face as he scanned her face. Selfishly, he's happy she's back whether she's harm or not. As long as she's back safely with the team - everything else doesn't matter. He knew that it would take time but he's willing to wait for her to be ready. For the past few days, JJ has been repeating that Penelope would return because she's strong and brave. He wants to believe that a part of that will become true but still, that part of him deep inside is telling him that everything about her will change dramatically. They just have to be willing and patient with whatever happens in the future with her behavior in the team.

"You know," Penelope softly whispered as she looked up at the sky. "I didn't see the sky for three days when I was with him."

Luke blinked. "You don't have to talk, Penelope."

"When I was in that basement on the first day, I kept imagining how the sun was like or how it would feel against my skin. Was it bright that day? Was the sun extremely hot? If I were to escape, would I scorch the bottom of my feet because I didn't have my shoes or socks." She looked down at her hands, picking at the dry skin again. "Then I was trapped in a dark truck container and it was freezing. The coldness made me wish for the heat even more. I was chattering my teeth and shivering to the point of wishing I was dead. Then I kept remembering what you guys would say," she paused slightly. "how I am a strong person and I could go through this without giving up."

"Penelope..."

For the first time in four days and constant refusal to see the others, she turned her head and looked at Luke straight in the eyes. "Do you want to know how many times I wanted to give up? I counted. _Thirteen times._ Twice in that basement. Five times in that truck container. Three times in that motel room," she choked up with tears brimming against her eyes as the images of the dead woman replayed in her head. "And three times while that guy was..." tears slid her face and she forcibly wiped them away. "What he did to me in that bedroom, I can still feel it. Every inch of my body feels as if it's rotten. I want to scratch everything away and get rid of that feeling of him..."

Luke reached his hand to touch her shoulders but stopped himself. Not knowing if he should touch her not, he pulled back his hand and cleared his throat. "It's over."

"Is it?" Penelope questioned back in a louder voice. "Is it really over, Luke?" Her voice was starting to break and become weak as she thought about the kidnapper. "He's still out there and probably waiting for the moment to kidnap me again. You know how he works, you saw all those video footages that he had." This time, she isn't bothering on wiping the tears that were streaming on her face. Her vision became blurry because of the tears as she looked at Luke. "He's probably watching us right now. Enjoying the fact that he hasn't been caught after what he has done to me. He gets off on this, you know. He's a sick bastard who does nothing but hurt people." Penelope whimpered as she clenched her hand into a tight fist. "I heard what the nurses said the other day." She started shaking as she clenched on teeth. "Is it true? That woman in the motel room isn't the first person he killed? He killed seven people? And I stayed in that basement without knowing that a poor man was trapped in the walls?"

He sighed. The team had informed the nurses to especially not let Penelope find out about the other deaths. "I..."

"How about that house? An elderly couple with their grandchildren? They're dead." Penelope started breathing in and out heavily as she couldn't control the tears anymore. "They're dead because of me. He is doing all of this because of me."

Luke immediately shook his head. "No, don't think like that. It isn't your fault, Penelope. Repeat over me. It's not your fault."

Penelope stared at Luke's face, the way he was furrowing his eyebrows as his expression was filled with concern and frustration at the fact that he couldn't do anything to help her. "What was her name?"

"Elizabeth Miller," Luke answered. "She didn't have a family. Debts were racking up in her account and she had three jobs to keep her life going. The housekeeper job in the motel was one of them."

"She was so happy when the door opened, she didn't know that she was going to die." Penelope cried. "I hugged her and held onto her until she took her last breath."

"I know," Luke said. "You would do something like that."

"Even when she was dying, she looked at me and smiled. As if she was telling - "

Luke interrupted. "That it wasn't your fault."

Penelope looked at him. "The others?"

"Franklin Bolt. Daniel and Shelley Brooke. The grandchildren were Lillian, Frank, and Tiffany Brooke." Luke watched Penelope's face as she took in the information. "None of their death is your fault."

"He's killing them because he needed their houses and they were in the way, he needed a place to keep me trapped and alone." Penelope stared straight ahead, darkness and emptiness.

Luke didn't want to ask but he had to. "Why kill Elizabeth Miller? Was it because she caught him? Did he do something suspicious that caught her attention and he had to stop her before she ran for help?"

Penelope didn't answer right away. "It's because I opened my mouth and said something."

"What...what did you say?"

"The truth about my feelings," Penelope adverted her gaze away from the streets and back over to Luke. His deep brown eyes staring at her with such concern was killing her. She didn't know what to say. "And he didn't like it. He got angry and acted out. It was my fault. If had kept my mouth shut, Elizabeth would've still been alive. Now, he's just a serial killer walking freely."

"We will catch him." Luke promised. "I won't let this guy walk around on the streets. I won't let him hurt you anymore."

Penelope turned and looked at Luke. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?" Luke asked.

"Why do you care?" Penelope asked as she cried. "I'm not the same Penelope Garcia as before anymore. All I see is darkness and emptiness in my life repeatedly. There is no point of any of you caring about me anymore. Don't you get it? I won't be able to be the same and I will make your lives a living hell. I will be screaming in my sleep half the time with my legs kicking in the air. I won't be able to work and answer phone calls with witty laughable remarks to make your work lives easier. Why do you care? Who am I to you that would make you care like this? We're nothing but colleagues. Why would you care?!" She screamed. Before she could stop herself, she started hitting her fits on Luke's arm as she cried harder. "Stop caring about me! Everybody needs to stop caring about me! Just leave me alone!"

Luke didn't want to touch her, he tried his best to keep his hands away because he was scared on how she would react to anyone's touch. But as he sit and watch her struggling with her emotions, pushing him away with her fists consistently. He did the one thing that would reassure her that no one is leaving no matter how hard she tries to make them. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he quickly pulled her into a tight embrace. Placing his chin on the top of her head, he closed his eyes. "Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay."

Penelope tried to push him away as soon as her head was on his chest but he was too strong. After a few seconds of trying, she couldn't handle it anymore. She has tried to push everyone else away and it worked. Why is it that she can't manage to push Luke away? Why is his embrace the only one that's making her less emotional? Why can't she keep up with the strong exterior and walk away from him like the other members? Feeling helpless and emotionally tired, she slowly lift her arms and wrapped her arms around his body. "I'm so scared..." Tears leaked onto Luke's shirt as she cried harder and harder. "I'm scared that I can't go through this alone."

"You won't be alone," Luke promised. Pulling away from the embrace, he made sure that she was looking at him in the eyes as he spoke. "I will never leave you alone." Luke caressed his thumb over her face to wipe away her tears before he leaned over and kissed the top of her head before embracing her even tighter. "I promise."


	6. Chapter Six

**Monday 8:15AM**

Derek stood up from his seat with the recent case file in his hand. "Prentiss," he cleared his throat as the others walked out the room, getting ready to head out of state for the case. "I really think I should stay and just watch over Penelope."

"Oh," Emily nodded her head. "Yeah, of course."

"I'm technically not even supposed to be back, right?" Derek shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, I know I can come back and work anytime but the only reason I did come back was - "

Emily smiled. "For Garcia." She patted Derek on the shoulders, making sure he knows he doesn't need to worry. "Do what you want to do, Morgan. In terms of work, I'm not even your boss. The higher authority knows that you're only back here because of her. Now that they've put the case on the back burner, you have no reason to intend these future cases."

"Thanks." Derek said. He inhaled deeply before quickly putting on his jacket and walking out of the conference room. Taking out his phone, he sent a text to Savannah, asking how the baby is doing. When he's at home, he misses the field so much. The feeling of adrenaline kicking in through his veins. But when he is out on the field, he can't stop thinking about what his little baby is doing. Being an obsessed workaholic and parents definitely sucks.

"Agent Morgan." Luke stood in front of the elevator with his hand clenching onto his backpack.

Derek turned around as he put his phone into his back pocket. "Alvez, we've known each other for a little over a week. Do we get along? Sometimes. Do I think that you should get rid of the whole formal name basis? Yes because it's annoying."

Luke briefly smiled as he put the backpack over his shoulders. "I heard that you want to visit Penelope today?"

"Yeah," Derek cleared his throat. "How'd you do it?"

"I'm sorry?"

He shrugged his shoulders as he crossed his arms across his chest. "I've known Penelope for over a decade. She's my bestfriend, someone who I will throw myself in front of a bus for. She drives me crazy with her little sassy antics but that's what I love about her. Not afraid to tell what she's thinking when she has had it. For someone who I've known for over a decade," Derek looked at Luke. "It frustrates me that I don't know how I can make her feel better after what has happened. I should be the one to guide her through the memories and pain." Exhaling deeply, he couldn't control the frustration from inside of him. "She has helped me in so many things in my life - more than I ever deserve." Briefly closing his eyes as he control his emotions. "I'm not upset or frustrated that she talked or opened up to you about her fears." Derek pressed on the elevator button. "I'm glad that at least someone got to her when she needed someone."

Getting the message that Derek is trying to say, Luke smiled. "You want to know how I got her to talk to me? I don't think it's nothing I did. Last night was rough for her and I just think I was there at the right moment and the right time." Luke cleared his throat as he opened up his backpack, taking out his house keys. "You're the one that she needs the most right now. Like you said, she's your best friend." He handed the house keys toward Derek. "I think I have a way for her to easily talk to you today even if she tries so hard not to."

Derek furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

. . .

 **Monday 9:00AM**

Penelope's eyes never left the window since she woke up. It's the only thing that has been calming her since the moment she open her eyes. As soon as they are opened, the doctor comes in for a check up. Nurses walks in and out giving her difference medicine to soothe her nerves down. Sometimes when she does wake up from a nightmare, she is forced to take medicine to make her sleep. It's funny. When she was kidnapped, all she wanted to do was sleep. It was the only way for her to ignore her situation and forget that she was living in a fear every minute of the day. Here, where she is supposedly finally safe, she can't help but stay awake due to the fear that she can't forget. She can't live like this, she can't let herself go through this everyday. So that's when she made a _decision_ , a decision that she won't back out on with her mind fully focused on it.

After last night at the rooftop, the nurses has started taking extra caution on her. Scared for her to leave again and do something stupid. Honestly, she's too tired to do something as stupid as that. All she wants right now is for somebody to walk through those doors and tell her that the guy has been caught and he's going to be in prison for what he has done. But that hasn't happened yet and she's not even sure if that'll ever happen. Which makes her believe more that the decision she chose will be the best for now.

"Penelope," one of the regular nurses knocked on the door and smiled softly at her. "Derek Morgan is here to visit you. Would you like to see him today?"

She blinked her eyes several times before gazing away from the window, looking at the nurse. From the corner of her eyes, she can see Derek standing by the door, waiting for permission to come in. Penelope thought about how last night, she finally talked to one of the members and out of all people, it happened to be Luke. Now, standing a few feet away from her is the man that she calls best friend. It'll be wrong to not see him, right? If she remembers right, Derek has tried eight times since she returned to see her but she has refused him all eight times. "Yes." She finally answered before turning back to look out the window.

Derek briefly smiled as he walked in, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. "Hi."

"Hi." Penelope simply replied.

"How are you feeling?"

Penelope shrugged her shoulders. "Drugged up." Which isn't a lie since she just had to take medicine merely ten minutes ago.

Derek brought the chair close to the hospital bed and sighed. "I won't stay long if you don't want me to. I just wanted to make sure you're fine and that you're not upset with me or anything."

She finally looked away from the window and stared at Derek while knitting her eyebrows. "Why would I ever be upset at you?"

He drew out a deep breath. "I don't know. I just - "

"Derek, I just needed time." Penelope said. "I thought that by pushing you guys away, it'll be better for all of us. I'm not the same right now and I feel as if I let you see me like this - our relationship won't ever be the same." Tears started brimming against her eyes. "I can't be the joy or happiness of the team anymore and that ultimately sucks. Because that's what they depend me on, what you depended me on when you were still a part of the team."

Shaking his head vigorously as he looked at her. "Baby Girl, that is not important to us. What's more important is for you to feel better and try to get your life back on track. I could careless if you want to be Miss Grumpy Pants for the next five months. As long as I am there for you and you let me be there, I can take any attitude from you."

"This attitude may be meaner, crazier, more - "

Derek chuckled. "I don't care."

Penelope sighed. "I'm scared that I'll blame things on you and I'm scared to lose myself during this whole process. You know that's what I fear the most. I already lost..." she can't get rid of that guy's face out of her head. "I don't want to be a burden on any of you."

"Baby Girl, you have never been a burden to me and you won't start being a burden to any of us." Derek narrowed his eyes at her, his hands has been on his lap since he came her. Not knowing if she wants to be hugged or touched, he tried to hold back as much as he wants to wrap his arms around her - like they always do. "I love you, Penelope. When you were gone, I felt so scared. I barely controlled my emotions during the case, I kept being angry and I was losing it out there. I just kept thinking," he took a deep breath. "What if I lose my best friend? What if I lose her and I never catch the bastard that did this? How will I ever live with myself knowing that the one time she does needed me, I couldn't do anything? How will - " he stopped talking and looked down when he felt Penelope taking his hand, holding onto it. And that's when he lost it. Tears slid down his face as he glanced back up at her. "I've missed you so much, Penelope Garcia."

Penelope cried as she wiped his tears away. "And I've missed you, Derek Morgan."

Derek chuckled as kissed the top of her hand. "I guess Alvez didn't need to help me out."

She looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He wanted to help out in case if you didn't want to talk to me," Derek stood up and walked over to the door. "So he asked me to pick up somebody who would probably cheer you up."

Penelope held her hands together as she watched Derek walk out of the room and return a few seconds at the doorway. He smiled as he whistled and that's when she heard the sound of a dog running towards him and the room. Her eyes widened from surprise as she leaned over and softly smiled. "Roxy!"

. . .

 **Monday 12:20PM**

JJ pinned up the photos of the victims found onto the board and sat back down as she tried to find any connection between the four. Leaning over to grab her coffee, she glanced up just in time to see Luke tapping his fingers constantly on the table. "You've been doing that for the past twenty minutes. Come on, confess. What's on your mind?"

Luke chuckled as he leaned forward to drink his own coffee. "Nothing."

"Don't lie." JJ said. "It's hard to notice when somebody is all fidgety in front of you."

"It's Penelope." Luke shrugged his shoulders. "Something she said last night to me kept me up, I couldn't get it out of my mind."

JJ nodded his head. "What was it?"

"He could be watching her right now, grinning at the fact that he got away." Luke shook his head at the mere thought that this guy keeping Penelope on watch. "He's probably waiting for the right moment to get her again."

"He won't." JJ confidently said. "Because I'll kill the son of bitch if he tries to take my best friend away again."

Luke smiled for a second. "You and Agent Morgan, the way you think are alike."

"She's my best friend. If I let her get kidnap again, I won't stop blaming myself." JJ muttered softly. "With what he has already done to her, it makes me so mad just to think about it."

"It makes all of us mad." Luke said.

JJ watched as Luke's expression quickly faded from anger to control calmness. "How do you do it?"

"Wow, that must be the question of the day for me." Luke stood up to pour himself another cup of coffee.

"You control your emotions so well. You don't let it fade you while working." JJ cleared her throat. "I confess, I was mad at you for a while. Everybody were on their toes when she was gone. Even Spencer lost it for a bit when we were setting up the victimology board on Penelope. You're different." JJ noted.

"Being able to divide your personal emotions from your workplace, not many people can do that."

Luke turned and leaned toward the counter, avoiding eye contact. "It's not about me being able to control my emotions. I don't seem as strong as I look, trust me." He exhaled as he quietly stirred the sugar in his coffee for a few seconds. "When I'm alone, I can't control it. Whatever I am feeling, I just let it out once I am cleared." He finally looked at JJ straight in the eyes. "I am fearful of letting people see me during my weak moments. I don't control the emotions because I am good at it. I force myself to control these emotions because I don't want to be weakened by it."

JJ knit her eyebrows together. "Why?" If there is anything about the BAU, it's not a secret that these people don't tend to do well with their emotions. But it's what has them so good at what they do because without showing these emotions, they aren't as motivated as they want to be. It's what kept them as close as they are to each other because with their heightened emotions half the time, it helps their bond. And it's definitely not something to be considered as weak by. "We're family, right? There should be no shame in showing your emotions to your family."

The word _family_ has Luke stare at her for a few seconds. "Of course."

Emily and Spencer walked into the room. "We got an address."

Rossi stormed in with his jacket on. "Let's catch this guy and go home."

. . .

 **Monday 3:00PM**

"Alright," Derek said through the phone. "See you in a few hours then." He hung up the phone and smiled as he turned back to see Penelope playing with Roxy. "That was Prentiss, she said that the team caught the guy and they'll be back in a few hours. It was an open shut case so they're excited to be back home. The team wants to see you."

Penelope nodded her head. "Are they coming over?"

"I told her that it'll be fine," Derek walked over. "I hope it is."

"It should be," Penelope said. "Unless I have a mental breakdown and want to hide in the corner and cry my eyes out." She glanced up at smiled at Derek's frozen expression. "I'm kidding."

Derek scoffed. "At least a bit of yourself is back." He watched as Roxy panted near Penelope, jumping up and down in excitement near her. "She really loves you."

"She does, huh." Penelope leaned and giggled when Roxy licked her face. "She loves playing catch in the woods."

"How do you know that?"

"Newbie." Penelope answered. "Sometimes I went with him to walk Roxy on the weekends."

Derek arched an eyebrow. "Oh."

Penelope stopped petting Roxy and looked at Derek. "Don't use that tone especially when I'm sitting on the hospital bed with scars and bruises all over my face and body."

He chuckled. "If it's any better, I think those scars and bruises brings out your eyes." Derek burst out in a huge fit of laughter when she threw a pillow at him. This is the moment that made him realize that sooner or later, everything will be okay. Although she seems happy and smiling right now, he knows that it'll be gone once she's alone. Because she rather suffer alone and not let anyone in. In the brief hours he has spent with her, Derek could tell that it's all a show. But he's not wrong about his gut feeling, everything will be okay. "Are you hungry?"

"Not really."

"Penelope." Derek said in a much sterner voice, narrowing his eyes at her. The nurse had informed him that she hasn't been eating that well, avoiding the food that the hospital has been giving them.

"A sandwich." Penelope answered with a smile. With her hands petting Roxy's head, from the corner of her eyes - she watched Derek walk out of the room. As soon as he was gone, her smile vanished in a flash as she returned her attention back to Roxy. "Don't look at me like that." Her voice cracked as she cleared her throat, she has been holding back tears. "I can't let him see me like this. I have to learn to control it." Roxy jumped back onto the hospital bed, placing her head on Penelope's lap. "It's the best for them."

. . .

 **Monday 10:20PM**

"I've missed you," JJ said as she hugged Penelope tightly. "God, I've missed you so much."

Penelope smiled. "Same here."

JJ pulled away and sighed. "Are you hungry?"

She shook her head as a response. "I ate earlier." Penelope looked at the others, who were all smiling at her. "I'm really fine."

Emily took a deep breath. "We're glad." She walked closer to Penelope, her facial expression filled with regret. "Morgan told me that you know about how the case is being put into the back burner. I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Penelope said. "I'm fine with it. We'll catch him someday, right?"

Luke furrowed his eyebrows together at what Penelope just said. It's not the same as what he was told last night. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he cleared his throat as he bent down and gave Roxy a hug. "Hey, my sweet girl."

"Thank you for letting Roxy stay with me today."

"Of course." Luke stood up. "Thought it would make you feel better."

Spencer handed a stack of comic books to Penelope. "I bought it for you."

Penelope lightly laughed. "Thanks, Boy Wonder."

He doesn't do hugs, he doesn't do physical contact but at that moment, Spencer wrapped his arms around Penelope. "I missed you calling me that nickname."

Surprised by the sudden hug, Penelope didn't know how to react. Her mind went blank for a brief moment, memories of what happened to her flashed in and out. Slightly backing away but trying to not make it obvious that she was scared - she spread a small smile on her face. "Get used to it. I'm back and I'll forever call you that nickname again."

Rossi chuckled. "I talked to the doctor earlier. He said that you'll probably be out in a few days? Are you sure? Are you - " he hesitated. "Still in pain?"

"I'm fine." Penelope tried to reassure everybody. "If the doctor is ready to clear me, I guess I'll be fine."

JJ smiled. "I already cleared out a room for you at my house. Considering what happened to yours," she paused. "I just thought it would be nice if you could stay at mine. Maybe until you get back on your feet, you can watch over Henry and Michael for me. Will's been tired lately."

"That sounds fine." Penelope nodded her head. "I would like that."

As Luke handed Roxy a toy to play with, he watched Penelope's expression carefully. In a matter of six minutes, Penelope had used the word _fine_ at least more than nine times already. Something just doesn't feel right for him. He cleared his throat, taking his attention back to Roxy.

"It's my turn to keep on watch tonight," Emily smiled. "Hope I can keep you company here."

"I won't let you sleep in the waiting room anymore." Penelope pointed over to the couch near the wall. "You can sleep there if you want."

Emily nodded her head. "Thanks." She turned her attention to the others. "You guys should head home. It'll be late."

"Where's Tara and Stephen?"

"They went straight to the office. Needed to finish some paperwork. They'll be here in the morning." Spencer answered.

JJ sighed as she blew Penelope a kiss. "I'll bring Will and the kids tomorrow too. They've missed their godmother."

"I've missed them too." Penelope waved goodbye as everybody left the room with the exception of Emily. She laid back on the hospital bed, her eyes closed. "I can't stay up, the medicine is finally kicking in."

Emily laughed. "No problem." She yawned as she laid on the couch. Traveling back and forth in a matter of twelve hours is really tiring. "Goodnight, P."  
"Goodnight."

. . .

 **Tuesday 2:00AM**

Penelope's eyes snapped open as soon as the medicine wore off. Adverting her gaze over to the windows, she listened for Emily's steady breathing that indicates that she's still asleep. As soon as she felt it was fine to move, Penelope slowly got up on the hospital bed and stood up. "I have to do this." Walking out of her room, she watched as the nurses were away from their desk - probably doing their regular medicine check up on other patients nearby. "I can do this." She muttered to herself as she rushed down the hallway and looked around for an empty office. Penelope remembered seeing one of the offices being empty around this time of night when she went up the rooftop. The only thing she can hope for is it being empty again tonight. "I can definitely do this." Breathing in and out quietly, she rushed into the office once she found it. "Come on."

As soon as the door was closed behind her, she turned on the computer and cleared her throat. Since joining the BAU, she has promised to herself that she wouldn't go to the dark side anymore. She promised Hotch that she would end her hacking days because she loves the career that the BAU has given her. But as of this moment, she just needs to go on the dark side for a few minutes. The upcoming minutes that she needs is the only way she can probably put an end to this all.

Typing the computer as fast as she could, she encoded some of her old hacking skills into the hospital computer. Breaking through the security wall of the hospital software and she took a deep breath once she was in the hacker's forum. The forum is made up by the most powerful hackers in the world - it's a forum where all the hackers feel comfortable about indulging into the hacking processes or new computer software out there. She hasn't been here since forever and the fact that she easily could go in, still briefly makes her believe that she is good at what she does. Her eyes widened as soon as the first message went through.

 _Who is this?_

 _How'd you get in? I've never seen you before._

Penelope narrowed her eyes as she scrolled through all the messages, trying to search for a name that would stand out. A name that would remind her of him. Feeling as if it is useless to look through all these names - she did the one thing she can only think of. _My name is Penelope Garcia and I am looking for someone._

 _Penelope Garcia? You mean the one that works for the FBI?_

 _Cool! Aren't you in the hospital?_

 _She's alive?_

The incoming messages kept filling up the screen. She sighed out of frustration as she closed her eyes. Here goes nothing, she typed a message for the forum. _Jacob. I am looking for Jacob_.

The forum went blank maybe because they don't know what she is talking about and left the forum. A few seconds went by and that's when she saw the message she wanted to see. _Daisy, my love. I can't believe you on here looking for me_.

Penelope scoffed as soon as she read the message. The one thing that is more absurd is the fact that this guy thinks he belongs in this forum, he's just an amateur with the whole hacking world. She sent out another message - _Where are you?_

 _Now that wouldn't be fun if I told you, right?_

 _Where are you?_

The door suddenly opened and Penelope screamed with her eyes closed and her hands covering her head. "What the heck are you doing here?!"

Penelope glanced up and saw Luke Alvez standing by the doorway. "What the heck are you doing here? You're not even supposed to be on guard tonight!"

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "You seemed off and I wasn't going to leave you alone if you were giving a feeling of doing something stupid. I came back as soon as Roxy slept. Come back here and find you completely gone from the room." He walked over to the desk. "You have Prentiss running around. What are you doing here, Penelope?"

She cleared her throat. "Nothing."

"Don't lie to me." Luke furrowed his eyebrows together. "What are you doing here? And I'm only going to repeat this once."

Penelope was about to answer him but the sound of a new message adverted her attention back over to the computer screen. She gasped and stepped back from the computer in shock.

 _Tick tock. How long do you think it'll take Agent Prentiss and Agent Alvez to find me? Oh. I'm here, Daisy._

"What? What is it?" Luke turned his head to look at the computer but it crashed and took the website off. "Penelope?"

Penelope looked at Luke. "He's here. He's in the hospital!"

Luke's eyes widened and immediately he took out his gun from the holster. "LOCK THE DOOR AND DON'T COME OUT!"

"Luke! Wait - " it was too late. He had already left the room and closed the door behind him. Penelope looked around, making sure that the office she is doesn't have any cameras inside. He can't possibly be watching her right now, could she?

. . .

 **Tuesday 2:20AM**

Luke held the gun in his hand, his vision focused and alarmed as he looked around. "I need all of you to go back to any of the patient's rooms and lock the doors. Do you understand me?! Help me out and call the point!" The nurses immediately obligated and diverted each into different rooms. Luke took out his phone and dialed Emily's number. "Prentiss! He's here! Stay alert!"

"I got it!"

He hung up the phone and leaned his back against the wall, trying to listen for any footsteps that seem out of ordinary.

. . .

 **Tuesday 2:35AM**

Penelope listened through her door, trying to make out any sounds that she can hear. It's been so quiet for over ten minutes. She doesn't know what is happening. Did Jacob finally get caught? Her eyes adverted over to the computer, was it her fault that he's here? Endangering other people's lives right now?

"No," she reminded herself. She couldn't have been on the forum for more than three minutes. He had to have been on his way or already in the building when she called him out in the forum. "It's not my fault."

Penelope immediately crawled away from the door and over to the corner when the sound of keys rustling through the lock was heard. She started screaming until she realized that it was one of her nurses. "Penelope! There you are! Come on, the coast is clear."

"What - what happened?" Penelope asked as she stood up and held onto the nurse as they walked out of the office together. Walking down the hallways, she watched as the nurses trying to calm the other patients down. "What happened?"

"He got away." The nurse answered. Opening the door to Penelope's room, the nurse helped her sit down on the bed.

Not seeing Emily on the couch anymore, Penelope looked at the nurse. "Where is Agent Prentiss?"

The nurse avoided eye contact. "I think it's best for you to sleep right now."

"Why aren't you looking at me?" Penelope refused to lie down on the bed and got up. "Where is Emily? Where is Luke?"

"Penelope, you really need to listen to me and - "

 _That's when Penelope heard it._ The sound of a gurney being rushed through and the doctors and nurses screaming on top of their longs. The sound's definitely nearby. "We're losing the patient! Too much blood! Agent! Do you hear me?!"

Agent? Penelope tried to push through the door to see who was hurt but the nurse pushed her away. Before she could have the strength to fight back, she felt a sharp pinch on her arm. Feeling weak and her vision starting to become distorted, she watched as the nurse look at her with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry. I'm just following orders from the agent. We can't let you see what's happening. It's better for you to rest up and wake up in the morning with somebody explaining everything to you."

"Please..." Penelope tried to speak as she felt her body being laid on the hospital bed and a blanket covering her. "Who is hurt?" The only agents in the building right now is Emily and Luke. Tears start brimming against her eyes as she begged further. "Who is hurt?" The medicine kicked in and she fell back to sleep. Her last thought in her mind repeating over and over again as she slept - it's all my fault.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Tuesday 2:20AM - 15 minutes before.**

As soon as Luke felt as if it was safe, he quietly paced himself down the nearest hallway. His eyes going from side to side, seeing if anything sticks out. "Please go into your rooms and don't come out until the nurses has indicated it's safe." He informed the patients who were leaning their heads out of their rooms, wondering why the hospital's emergency alarm is blaring on. "Please!" In the midst of trying to help the senior patients into their rooms, he noticed a dark silhouette running past the hallway with the sound of a door opening and closing. Following the sound and pulling the safety latch on his gun, Luke leaned against the wall to control his breathing. "Prentiss," he said through the phone as soon as he felt it vibrate. "Where are you?"

"Second floor," the sound of Emily running and harsh breathing was heard through the phone. "I called the others. Local police should be here in no time. I don't see him here."

"Alright, I'm on the fourth floor." Luke whispered as he narrowed his eyes at the door, the one that had opened earlier. He turned slowly with his hand on the doorknob, just as he was about to twist it, Luke fell on the floor when the door suddenly opened and someone rushing out of it. "Prentiss!" His cellphone and handgun had slid across to the corner, unable to reach it.

Prentiss halted her steps as soon as she heard a struggle through the call. "Alvez!" She silently cursed to herself before hanging up the phone and rushing over to the fourth floor.

Luke groaned when he felt a hard kick to his sides. Twisting his body around, Luke managed to grip onto the edges of the wall, getting up. Looking at the man in front of him, Luke scoffed as he spit out the blood from his mouth. "You're the bastard, aren't you?"

He smirked as he tilted his head, his eyes scanning at Luke up and down. "I don't see what she sees in you." Jacob looked down to see the phone that slid over to the corner, in one swift stomp - the phone shattered and broke. "She will realize that she's wrong."

"Penelope has to realize what?" Luke drew out a deep breath. "That she's meant to love you?" He started chuckling while wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "We both know that'll never happen. What did you think? After hurting her like that, she'll run into your arms?" He narrowed his eyes at him as he inched his steps closer. "You're one sick bastard."

Jacob laughed. "What I did was to help her."

"Help her?" Luke repeated in anger. Having enough of the little chit chat, Luke clenched his hands into a fist and punched Jacob across the face. As soon as he fell on the ground, Luke got on top of him - tightening his hold around the thighs so that guy wouldn't be able to escape. "You," Luke continued to punch him with every word leaving his mouth. "Ruined! Her! Life!" His arm went up in the air for one more punch but Luke gasped in pain when he felt a sharp edge in his stomach. Looking down, he saw a knife stabbed into him. Luke fell on the floor, struggling as he tried to take the knife out of him.

"No, no, no." Jacob walked over with a smirk before he took the knife out, blood spewing everywhere. "I'm not done with you." This time, he got on top of Luke and laughed harder as each stab went into Luke's body. "You need to go away for her to realize," he stopped talking when he heard the sound of a door opening. "Looks like I have to leave." Dropping the knife on the floor next to Luke, Jacob rushed through the emergency doors.

Emily screeched her steps at the end of the hallway, her eyes widened at the pool of blood around Luke. "Alvez!" She fell on her knees as she placed Luke's head on her lap. He's not awake, his breathing is slow and unstable. Trying to force him awake, she lightly hit her cheeks for a reaction. "You're going to be alright." She breathed in and out uncontrollably once her hands were covered in his blood. Shaking her head at the stab wounds all over his body, she tried her best to clear her thoughts on what to do next. "DOCTOR!" Emily screamed on top of her lungs to call for help in the dark hallway.

. . .

 **Tuesday 2:50AM**

Staring at the floor with a blank expression on her face, Emily tried to control her irregular breathing as she wiped her hands with a dry towel. Her hands are covered with Luke's blood. Not to mention that her clothes are drenched in sweat and dry blood. Not able to sit still, she got up from the chair and start pacing around in the waiting room. Luke has been in the operation room for a little over ten minutes now. Just by looking at the expression on the doctor's face, she knew that it's not going to be easy. Before she had time to process who it was, somebody pulled her into a hug. Emily sighed deeply with her eyes briefly closed. "I'm fine, JJ."

JJ pulled away and shook her head. "What happened?"

Emily glanced up to see the others arriving at the waiting room. "He was here. Within a span of twenty minutes, he managed to come in and out of the hospital."

"How'd he do that?" Spencer asked.

"He must've hacked the cameras beforehand," Rossi concluded. "He came here knowing where the cameras are located. Did he try to contact Penelope?"

"I don't know," Emily sighed. "I fell asleep. Opened my eyes and she was gone. I got worried and started searching around for Penelope. That's when I saw Luke and he started helping me. Within a few minutes, the hospital alarm went off and he called me saying that the Unsub was here." She looked at the others, unable to control her frustrations at the fact that he managed to escape again. "Two minutes, if I had ran faster, I would've caught the damn bastard."

"This isn't your fault," JJ reassured her. "Luke being hurt has nothing to do with you. The Unsub was just two steps ahead of us."

Derek rushed over to the waiting room, his eyes furrowed in anger as he threw his jacket onto a chair. "Where's Penelope?!"

"She's asleep." Emily said. "I asked the nurse to inject her with that sleeping medicine. I didn't want Penelope to be awake for this."

"Where were you when she went missing for almost an hour?" Derek questioned as he stepped closer to Emily. "Why weren't you watching her?"

Emily lightly scoffed. "I was watching her, I just fell asleep."

"Fell asleep? You're supposed to be on guard!" Derek narrowed his eyes at her. "You're supposed to be the leader! You should know better! The fact that you fell asleep and let Penelope wander around like that, do you know how dangerous that was for her? She could've been kidnapped again! He was here! In the same building that's supposed to be safe for her! And you just fell asleep?!"

"Morgan..." Spencer said.

"Shut it, kid." Derek warned. "What? Just because the case is put on the back burner, you think it'll be alright to fall asleep?"

Rossi stepped in the middle to separate Derek from Emily, his hand placed on Derek's shoulders. "Morgan, this isn't on Emily."

"Isn't it? The nurses told us that Penelope has the tendencies to wander around without telling anyone! If she was going to be on guard, she's supposed to watch Penelope at all cost!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" JJ asked, having enough of Derek's tantrums. "She's fine! Penelope is fine! She's in the room! The main problem right now is that one of our own is currently in a life and death situation in that damn surgery room! All you care about is screaming at Emily for doing something that's practically normal?! Look at her, Derek! She's covered in blood and is traumatized that she wasn't there in time for Luke!"

"Well, she wasn't there in time for Penelope either, wasn't she?" Derek coldly asked with a glare.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Emily asked.

Derek scoffed. "I watched the footage on the night Penelope was taken. You and Luke were the last ones to see her. If you had stayed longer, you could've stopped the kidnapping. Penelope wouldn't have been hurt and in pain like this!" Derek screamed. "You saw her today! She's pretending and lying through her teeth about being fine with everything when it's obvious that she'll never be okay again. She is different! She's a walking mummy!" He backed away and chuckled at Emily. "Where's your guilt? Where's your trauma for being the last one to see Penelope before she was taken? I didn't see any of that while we were on the case!"

"Morgan," Spencer said. "That's not right for you to say."

"I'm just saying what I've been holding back." Derek replied. "Like it or not."

JJ glared at Derek. "Did you ask them? Did you ask if they were guilty or not? You didn't. Since you came back, all you have been doing is screaming at Luke and demand this or that from people. If you didn't ask, how would you know that they didn't feel guilty about it? Look at you," JJ couldn't help but shake her head in disappointment as she looked at her longtime friend, someone who she considers the one she can trust with her life. "You're so wrapped in your head about everybody's fault, why don't you look at your own? Where is the Derek Morgan that we know and love? The one that I know, would come in here and ask how is a fellow agent is doing? The one I know, would ask if Emily is okay because she's a friend. He wouldn't yell and blame everything on her just because of an incident that we couldn't control." She took a deep breath. "Luke Alvez, like him or not, he's a fellow agent and a friend of ours. What he did was to save Penelope, he got stabbed over and over again for Penelope. How do you stand here and have the audacity to not ask about him?"

Derek stared at JJ for a few seconds, unable to answer. "I - "

"Save it." JJ said. "I don't want to hear any of it."

Spencer stood in the middle, not knowing what he can say to ease JJ's anger but also Derek's. He adverted his attention over to the waiting room's entrance when the doctor was walking over. "Doctor," rushing over with the others. "How is he?"

"He lost a lot of blood," the doctor said. "I managed to control most of the area but it doesn't look good."

Emily held her hands together as she pleaded with her eyes. "Please."

"He was stabbed fourteen times. Out of the fourteen, ten of them were deep wounds. I must say, he's lucky that he didn't get stabbed around the heart. The stabs were irrational and looks as if it was uncontrollably done." The doctor took off his mask as he sighed. "He's not reacting to anything. It's as if he fell into a coma, something that is out of our hands. If he doesn't wake up in 24 hours, he's not going to make it." He looked at each and every agent with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry."

As soon as the doctor walked away, Rossi turned to the others. "What does this mean?"

"Considering the circumstances of how the stabs were done and the amount of blood loss for Luke, he's either going to die or live by 24 hours." Spencer explained. "Someone as built as Luke is strong but he doesn't have enough strength to fight back the loss of blood. Everybody dies if they lose too much. With him being in a coma, this all depends on him." He looked up and immediately regret his explanation. "I'm sorry. I was just - "

"It's okay," Emily said slowly as she sat back down on the chair. "It'll be okay, right?" They turned their heads to the sound of a gurney being pushed and Luke laying there, motionless and almost too pale for their liking. As the gurney past them, Emily drew out a breath. "Who's going to tell her? Who's going to tell Penelope?"

. . .

 **Tuesday 11:00AM**

"Why did you do it?" JJ asked carefully. It has been a little over thirty minutes since the team informed Penelope about Luke's upcoming fate. She didn't react at all. Penelope sat still, her face expressionless as she blinked her eyes while the time went by. The other members separated to check out the cameras and other parameters around the hospital. Despite the fact the Unsub probably knows what he was doing with the cameras, the team wants to take extra measures just in case. "Penelope, you have to understand that none of this is your fault. We're not blaming you so you shouldn't either."

"Jacob."

JJ knit her eyebrows together. "What?"

"I never told you the name he gave me because I just assumed that it's a fake," Penelope muttered under her breath. She blinked several times, her hands fidgeting under the blanket. "Jacob. He called himself Jacob."

"He didn't give you a last name?"

"No." Penelope answered. "Just Jacob."

"P, look at me." JJ walked over and sat at the end of the bed. Making sure that she has eye contact with Penelope, she sighed. "Emily is on the phone right now with the higher authority. This time, she doesn't give a rat's ass on what they're going to say. She wants the case back on the grid and for everybody to be on it. She's demanding the help of each division in the FBI. It's a high demand and probably won't be given but the least they could do is give us the permission to seek the case out again."

Penelope blinked her eyes again. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it does," JJ answered. "He has managed to hurt you and Luke. That is not going to settle well with us."

"He didn't come here to see me," Penelope said. "His target was Luke from the beginning. He was in the hospital long before I went into the dark website. Playing a sick joke on me because he knows how much I care for this team." Tears start brimming against her eyes as she stared at JJ. She refuses to blink again because that would only mean for the tears to slide down her face. "It's a warning. If he doesn't have me, no one else will."

"Wait - " JJ held her hands up. "Penelope, slow down. What are you saying? Dark website? Target Luke?" All this time, the team had just assume that attacking Luke was just a moment's chance. That he probably ran into Luke while trying to run away before getting caught. "He would've hurt any of us if he ran into us."

"No." Penelope said. "He wanted Luke."

JJ cleared her throat. "Why? Why would he target Luke if his intentions has always been only you so far? And how would you know this, P?"

She finally blinked her eyes, letting the tears she kept in slide down slowly. "Because Luke was a threat to him." Penelope took a deep breath. "Just because I admitted to liking Luke."

Realization hit JJ as she covered her face with her hands for a few seconds. "Penelope, he's a narcissistic. He doesn't care for anything but himself. The fact that he went out his way to kidnap you because he believes in some sort of love that you two share shows he has to be in control." She rubbed her eyes from the lack of sleep. "When you confessed your feelings about Luke, did anything else happened?"

"Yeah, Jennifer. He murdered somebody right in front of me," Penelope said. She opened her mouth to speak but started laughing at the realization of what JJ is actually doing. "No. You're not going to do this whole profiling cognitive crap on me."

JJ bit her lower lip. "Garcia, we've only been holding back for you. Emily insisted to give you time and wait until you're willing to come to us with information when you want to." She cleared her throat, clenching onto Penelope's hands. "We were even lucky enough for you to give us a sketch of him with the help of the nurses. Think about it. Luke can die any minute if we don't think of anything to help. Considering the situation that we're in right now, I can't think of anything else that could help us with the exception of _this_."

Penelope hated being treated as a victim. She still hates it. The way people look at her, the way people are always being careful around her. "What do you want to know?" She closed her eyes, her hands holding onto JJ for dear life.

"After what happened in the motel and he took you to the house," JJ hated doing this to her but it's the only way. "Tell me about the house," she watched as Penelope started controlling her own breathing. "What do you see?"

"Bright...colors...just like my house. He created an exact replica of my house in the bedroom." Penelope felt herself trembling as she recalled waking up in the bedroom. "Everything except for pictures. He didn't have the pictures I had displayed of us and the team. He didn't want it there."

JJ nodded her head. "Because we were toxic to him. He didn't want any of the memories you have of us in the room."

"He opened the door," she wanted to open her eyes so badly as the memories flashes back. "Platter of cookies in his hands. He sat down on the bed and asked if I started thinking clearly then." Penelope twitched as if she felt his touch on her right now. "He called me Daisy, he didn't want to call me by my name anymore. _Daisy. Daisy._ He just kept repeating as if he wanted to engrave it in my head."

"What happened after that?"

"I cried." Penelope recalled. "I wanted to be back in my actual home with all my things in it. That's when he started screaming at me for lying to him, he wanted me to think clearly. To realize that I do actually love him and that the house is going to be our house like before."

"Like before?" She repeated before clearing her throat to continue talking. "Luke," JJ said. "Did you say anything about Luke while he was screaming at you that night?"

Penelope nodded her head. " _You'll never be like Luke. Unless I die and become somebody else, I will never like somebody like you. Keep me trap all you want, it'll be useless. You'll never compare to Luke or anyone in my team. They protect me because they love and care for me. What you're doing is sick and twisted. Kill me if you have to because falling in love with you will be the last thing I will ever do_." She took another deep breath. "That's what I said to him."

"And then what happened?"

She snapped her eyes opened, her eyes wide and alarmed. "Then he...he..."

JJ gripped onto Penelope's shoulders. "It's okay." JJ found herself slightly crying the more she looked at Penelope. JJ can't imagine the pain that she went through inside the house. Pulling her into a hug, she exhaled deeply. "I can't - "

"He was yelling." Penelope interrupted.

"You already told me that, Pene - "

She shook her head. "He was yelling during the whole time while he was..." she didn't want to further speak about the incident. Knowing how fast JJ is with things, she could tell JJ already knew what she meant. "But it wasn't directed toward me. It was as if he was yelling at somebody in the room but nobody was there. Demanding to know the truth, demanding to know that he was better than _him_. Felt as if he wasn't talking about me or Luke. I was too busy screaming to understand anything that he was really saying." The blocked memories were slowly coming back after going through the cognitive process. "I fought and pushed him off. I fell off the bed and quickly grabbed something to wear."

"You don't have to tell me about this part, if you don't want to." JJ could see the pain on Penelope's face.

"He pulled my hair and threw me against the wall." Penelope recalled as she went through every single moment in her head right now. "When I shoved him away, my back hit against the nightstand. That's when _it_ fell."

"What fell?"

"A book...no," Penelope closed her eyes. "A diary, it was opened so I saw words in it but I was too busy crawling away to notice what it said."

JJ nodded her head as she wrote it down on her hand with a pen. "What happened when you tried to crawl?"

"He tried pulling me back near the bed and started kicking my head violently," Penelope shuddered. "That's when I turned around while throwing my legs in the air repeatedly. I think my legs hit him because he fell," she kept nodding to herself as the memory replayed in her head. "I managed to get the door to open and fell down the stairs because I didn't see it. I could hear him...he was screaming, louder than before." She opened her eyes again. "He caught up near the door and hit my head again but I kicked him. That's when I ran out of the house and got hit by the car."

JJ let out a sigh of relief. It's not much information but it was still something useful. The team could try and deduct certain things that Penelope pointed out. And from what she can see, it looks as if Penelope have not been his first victim - something the team had assumed due to the one year stalking. But if he was this dedicated, there could be another one that they don't know about.

"Daisy." Penelope said.

"I know," JJ arched an eyebrow. "He forced you to think of yourself as Daisy. I think the name Jacob could be a fake but if we try - "

"No," Penelope recalled. "The diary that fell off the nightstand, I caught a glimpse of the name on the cover." She looked at JJ. " _Daisy_."

"Whoever she is or was, she must've been the trigger."

Penelope nodded her head. She watched as JJ sent out a text message to the team. "I want to see him."

"What?" She looked up from the phone.

"Luke," Penelope said. "I want to see him."

JJ sighed. "He's in coma, Penelope. Spencer and Rossi talked to the doctor about further information. They're calling it a critical coma. If he doesn't wake up in," she checked the time on her phone. "Fifteen hours, he'll - " she paused when Penelope suddenly stood up from the bed, unplugging the IV from her arm. "Penelope..."

"I'll be fine," she said. "I just want," Penelope cleared her throat with a brief smile. "I need to see Luke."

. . .

 **Tuesday 11:20AM**

"He dodged his head here," Spencer pointed out on the screen. "And he must've waited a few seconds against the wall because he knew when the camera was going to turn. As soon as it did, he rushed down the hallway."

Rossi shook his head. "This guy isn't as simple as we thought at first."

"This is where it's weird," Spencer said. "He's sitting at the chairs, acting as if he was waiting for a family member to come out. "Takes out a laptop. Why take out a laptop in the middle of everything else?"

JJ entered the room. "Dark website," she stood next to Spencer and crossed her arms. "Penelope just told me that when she snuck out of the room, she hacked into one of the hospital's computers and entered the dark website."

"She promised Hotch that she wouldn't do that again." Spencer said.

"Well, it was the only way she could contact Jacob."

"Who?" Rossi asked.

JJ shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, I meant Unsub. Penelope said that he called himself Jacob in the house but I highly doubt that's his actual name."

"I don't know," Spencer said. "He's narcissistic. He wants people to know him so what's better than giving your real name when you know it's safe? The house was probably the safe point for him."

Rossi turned back to the screen. "Okay. He connects himself into the dark website and made contact with Penelope." Typing the on the computer to switch up the cameras. "This is where Luke and the Unsub met." He tilted his head as he studied the body frame of the Unsub. "Look at him. He's confidently walking toward Alvez. He knew he was going to escape."

Spencer sighed. "There. Luke lost control of his anger and straddled on top of the Unsub. Started punching - "

"I would too." Rossi said under his breath.

JJ narrowed his eyes. "He managed to take out the knife without Luke noticing."

"And that's when the surprised expression came across Luke's face," Spencer noticed. "Irrational and uncontrollably angry." Spencer had to look away from the part of repeated stabbing on Luke. "This was a personal vendetta but why? What does he have against Luke?"

"Penelope." JJ replied. "He felt threatened because Penelope confessed her feelings about Luke to him." Rossi and Spencer's eyes widened. She nodded her head as soon as she saw their expressions. "I know."

Rossi sighed. "I don't know if this is an appropriate time but it's about damn time."

"Where is she?"

"Visiting Luke. I had one of the nurses keep watch by the door." JJ answered.

. . .

 **Tuesday 1:00PM**

Penelope sat on the chair beside the bed as she stared at Luke. With his eyes closed, he looks as if he was just taking a nap instead of being stuck in a coma. She can't remember a time where he was ever this quiet. Granted, it's only been seven months since she's known him but Luke being this quiet is oddly irritating for her. Slowly, she lifted her hand from her sides and placed it on top of his hand. "Your hand is really cold." _Nothing, he's not replying_. She took a deep breath as she watched his chest go up and down. "Cold means death, you know. That's how I felt when I was in the container - freezing, shivering and slowly dying in my mind. But you already know that because I shared everything with you that night on the rooftop." She tightened her grip onto his hand. "I always happen to share everything with you, no matter how hard I try not to. You just manage to creep up there with that damn caring smile. It's annoying, you're always annoying." Penelope looked at his face, covered with bruises and cuts. "Look at you, Newbie. Even with you lying on this bed, you're still annoying. What did you do to your handsome face?" She scoffed when her other hand touched his face carefully. "Part of your beard is shaved off."

Her brief smile vanished. "Luke Alvez, I'm going to need you to wake up. I need you to open those beautiful eyes of yours and wake up. Because if you don't, you'll die. These machines," she looked at the wires and machines that surrounded the room. "are the only thing that's keeping you alive but once the beeping is gone, you're dead." Wiping her tears away, Penelope blinked repetitively to control herself. "I need you to tell me that everything that has been happening isn't my fault. That's what you always do for me, right? Being there when I needed someone the most, being there and telling me the words to calm me down. You always knew what to say, Luke. Please wake up and tell me that you laying here isn't my fault because right now, everything freaking sucks. You're literally on the brink of death because of me. This feeling sucks. I thought nothing could be more painful that what happened to me but this, this is more painful than anything." She gripped onto his hand with both of her hands, her voice trembling as tears covered her face. "Wake up and make me laugh. Wake up and make me smile. Luke, I am so sick of the crying." Seeing as how he hasn't responded yet, she bit her lower lip. "What if I promise I won't hide anything anymore? You always know when I'm lying or acting odd, like last night. What if I promise that I will try and be more open with my pain? I will open up with the members and let them help me. I won't hide my emotions, I won't hide my pain. If I need a hug, I'll ask for a hug. If I need reassure that none of this is my fault, I'll ask someone to remind me." Penelope placed her her head on the edge of the bed, crying. "Just wake up."

"Penelope..." Emily stood by the doorway with her hands on her phone, a sad expression written all over her face.

"Emily..." Penelope wiped her tears away, walking over to Emily. She could see the painful expresson on Emily's face. "I'm so sorry."

Emily's eyes widened as she shook her head. "No, no, no." She pulled Penelope into an embrace, wrapping her arms tightly. "If you blame yourself, I won't be able to blame myself." She pulled away and lightly laugh at the situation. "God, we're so emotional."

Penelope sighed. "How long more?"

"Thirteen." Emily said. "The doctor just told me - " she abruptly stopped talking when the machine suddenly stopped beeping. Before she had time to ask questions, the doctor and nurses start rushing into the room.

"What...what is going on?!" Penelope screamed. She tried to enter back in the room but Emily dragged her away. "Emily!"

Emily choked up as she tried to hold back tears while pulling Penelope away. "We can't watch this, Penelope. We can't watch this."

Spencer and the others immediately rushed over as soon as they heard the news, their eyes glancing at the room. "Is he - "

"No." Emily answered. "I think he stopped breathing. The doctor rushed in, I think they might be performing CPR right now."

Penelope's eyes closed as she rubbed her face. "This can't be happening, this can't be happening."

Derek walked over. "Baby Girl..."

She looked up and cried as soon as she saw Derek. "He can't die, Morgan."

Nodding his head before he wrapped his arms around her, he looked at the others. Their expressions are understandable as if they're ready for whatever might happen to Luke. "I know, baby." He sighed. "I know."

The doors to Luke's room opened again, the doctor coming out while exhaling deeply. He made his way over to the others, his expression sullen and tired. "He's breathing again but if he collapses again like this, I don't think I'll be able to save him again." He turned his attention over to Penelope. "I'm afraid that it won't be 24 hours but rather five hours or so. I listened to his heartbeat, it's slow and not pumping the way it should be. I'm sorry but if he doesn't wake up in five - "

"He'll wake up." Penelope interrupted. "He has to wake up."

"I hope so, Miss Garcia." The doctor said. "I really hope so."

JJ rubbed her temples, trying to stop the headache from bothering her. "I hate to ask this but does anyone know if Luke has family nearby?"

"No." They said in unison.

Spencer looked at JJ. "He rarely talked about his family, only about Roxy."

"We have to inform somebody," JJ took out her phone. "I'll ask Agent Anderson to open Luke's file and search for his family's information." She glanced at Penelope before turning to Emily. "He said five hours."

Emily closed her eyes and nodded her head. "Do it." None of them wants this to happen but if the doctor is right and Luke doesn't manage to wake up before five hours, somebody has to be here for him. "I need fresh air." She said before leaving everybody behind her and out of the building.

Penelope stepped away from Derek. "I need a laptop. No, I need my laptop."

"What?" Rossi asked. "That's in the BAU."

"I need the laptop."

JJ could tell from the tone of Penelope's voice that she wasn't kidding around. "I'll tell Agent Anderson to bring Luke's folder and your laptop over here instead."

"Thank you, JJ."

Spencer and Derek watched as Penelope walked by over to Luke's room, sitting next to his hospital bed. "Why does she need her laptop?" Derek asked.

JJ sighed. "I think she's going to make contact again with him."

. . .

 **Tuesday 2:00PM**

"Baby Girl, do you really think this is a bright idea?" Derek asked as he watched her type on her laptop faster than he has ever seen.

"Chocolate Thunder, I love you but if this is the only way for us to capture him. I am doing it." Penelope said.

Spencer looked at her. "You tried contacting him last night and only talked to him for a few minutes. What do you think you can do this time?"

Penelope stopped typing and looked at everybody. Emily had returned from taking a break outside and now they're all in Luke's room. "This time I'm not afraid." She cleared her throat. "Okay, I'm lying but this time, I remember things that I blocked out with the help of Jennifer."

JJ smiled. "Yes."

"I can use it against him."

"Baby, that's dangerous." Derek said.

"So is everything else that you guys do out in the field but you still do it. Why?" Penelope asked.

"Because that's our job and we save lives." Spencer answered.

"And I am going to save mine and anyone else that might be in danger because of him." Penelope returned to the laptop and typed the final codes. "I'm in."

Emily looked at the screen. "God, I don't know what that all means."

"Are you to reach out to him?" Rossi asked.

Penelope scoffed. Her eyes looking up at the camera in Luke's room before she looked at the message on the screen. "I don't have to. He already knows."  
 _How sweet of you. Don't you think it's dumb of you to do this after the last time?_

Derek shook his head. "I want to punch him."

"You guys witnessed me being mean before, right?"

Spencer and JJ looked at each other. "Yes."

"Well, you're about to witness what I call The In Pain and Furious Penelope Garcia." Penelope started typing the first message. _Who's Daisy?_

 _You._

 _Did you hurt her like you did with me? Is that why she's not with you? Was I a replacement? Did you murder people like you did?_

 _I know what you're doing and it's not going to work. How about you tell Luke Alvez over there a goodbye message for me? He seems awfully pale._

"Penelope - " Derek start to say but was immediately hushed by her. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he watched Penelope open up another window on the laptop. Entering in numerous codes and numbers on the screen.

"I cut off the cameras." Penelope said.

"You hacked into the hospital's security?" Rossi asked.

"That's not what else I am doing," Penelope muttered as she typed another message to him. _You may be a fast learner with the hacking but you're not as good as me. Don't test me._

 _That's sad. Real sad. You think cutting off footages is going to do you any good? This dark website may be the only connection I have with you right now but once I have you in my hands again, Daisy. I won't ever let you go._

 _Daisy. I bet she left you because you're useless. Obviously you need anger management. Maybe she probably never liked you in the first place. Did you force her to like you? Did you keep her hidden like you did with me? Was everybody around her toxic?_

 _Stop. You better stop. This dark website won't protect you for long. How do you know if I am not in the hospital again?_

Spencer looked at the others. "Uhh, is this really a good idea?"

"I don't know." Emily admitted.

Penelope narrowed her eyes at the screen. _I practically invented the dark website. And I already know you're not here_. As soon as she sent the message, she shut herself off the dark website and turned to the others. "I found him." Turning the laptop over, she showed the address to them. "He's ten minutes away, I already sent a message to the local cops nearby. Road blocks are being set up as I speak."

"Garcia, how did you - " Emily looked at her in shock. They had a tech analyst do everything since the case but it was absolutely useless. "He had his location routing in ten different countries. How did you - "

"I'm better." Penelope cleared her throat. "I guess after what happened, I lost my ways and thought I couldn't do anything to help. If I had realize this sooner - "

"Penelope," JJ said. "Stop. Did you see what you just did? You pushed him through a screen. You pushed those buttons knowing what to say and he was too angry about it that he forgot to protect his walls. That's how you managed to get the location. You did it."

Derek nodded his head. "You did."

"Come on, we have to hurry!" Emily said as she rushed out the door with the others behind her.

"We'll be back." JJ said. "I contacted Luke's family member. She'll be here soon. If he doesn't make it," her voice cracked. "Contact us."

Penelope nodded her head. "I will." As soon as everybody left the room, she looked up at the clock on the wall. There is only three hours left until the fifth hour mark. She held onto Luke's hand. "Did you hear that? I did it, I finally did it." Penelope touched his face lightly. "So when are you going to stop being annoying and wake up?"

"Is that my baby?" Penelope turned her head to the sudden voice, immediately standing up to see an elderly woman by the doorway. "Is my baby okay?"

"Ma'am," Penelope didn't know what to say. "I'm..."

"Penelope Garcia." The woman made her way over to Luke, her wrinkly hands touching Luke's face as she cried. "He's talked about you."

"He...he has?"

She looked at Penelope. "My name is Bernice Alvez, I'm his grandmother."

"It's nice to..." Penelope cried. "I'm so sorry."

Bernice whimpered as she looked at Luke. "I was informed that he has less than a couple of hours?"

"Yes." Penelope stood by the wall, not knowing what to exactly do.

"Did you get hurt too?" Bernice asked. "You're in a hospital gown just like him."

Penelope nodded her head. "I'm okay."

Bernice stared at Luke with a small smile on her face. "He's the only family I have," she wiped her tears. "And I'm the only one he has."

"Really?" Penelope doesn't know anything about Luke. "May I ask - "

"Car accident." Bernice grimaced at the sight of the bandages around her grandson. "He's the only one that survived."

Penelope opened her mouth to say something but she kept her silence. She looked at Luke, somebody who always laughs and smiles but hides his pain from his past. He makes everybody feel at ease because he doesn't want to be considered as weak or affected by events that happens in his life. She closed her eyes as tears slide down her face, that's why he is always so understanding of her.

He's just like her. Protective of their emotional walls, scared to open up because it would just open a gate to further pain.

"Baby?!" Bernice weakly said.

Distracted from her thoughts, Penelope blinked her eyes in confusion when she noticed the doctor and nurses rushing back in. She started breathing heavily when the sounds of machine was uncontrollably beeping again. "No...Luke -"

"Miss Garcia - " The doctor stood in front of her, his hands gripping onto her shoulders. "He's fine!"

"What?" Penelope asked. That's when her vision started to become clearer and her hearing returned. Did she just imagine the machines going off? "I...he's fine?"

The doctor nodded his head as he stepped off to the side for her to see. "He is."

Penelope adverted her attention over to Luke, she gasped as soon as she saw his eyes were opened. "Luke..."

"Ahhh," Luke managed to say in a soft, weak voice. The pain on his stomach is incredibly harsh to wake up to. "Where am I?" Bernice cried as she kissed her grandson on the forehead repeatedly. "Grandma, what are you doing here?"

"You scared me half to death!" Bernice screamed.

Luke winced in pain as he breathed. He slightly turned his head over to the familiar sound crying. He chuckled as soon as he saw Penelope. "Hey..."  
Penelope walked over. "You're so damn annoying."

"Hmm..." Luke sighed. "Don't make me laugh. It hurts." It took him a few more seconds to get some words out. The sound of Penelope laughing replacing the crying was soothing to hear. "But listen..."

"What?" Penelope looked at him.

Luke lightly smiled. "At least I woke up and made you laugh."

Penelope looked at Bernice, who were looking at them with an expression she couldn't tell if it was amused or interested. As her eyes gaze at Luke, she sighed out of relief as she reached for Luke's hand. She couldn't help but smile as soon as they made contact in the eyes.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Tuesday 2:34PM**

Emily glanced at the others as she leaned against the exterior walls of the house with her hand gun out. _Determination_. As the others lined up with their own guns in their hands, there is nothing but fierce determination in their eyes. With two of their own badly hurt by this one particular guy, there is nothing more blood pumping than the feeling of wanting to arrest the person who causes harm to their family.

"Federal Agents!" Derek screamed while pounding his fists against the door. He glanced over to Emily, waiting for her call to break in. Holding her hand in the air, she started counting down fingers slowly. As soon as the last finger motioned down, Derek kicked down the door within seconds. Everybody spread apart to different rooms and one by one the word CLEAR was heard through the air constantly. Derek bit down his lower lip to hold back the anger he felt boiling inside. "CLEAR!"

JJ and Spencer rushed down the steps, their eyes filled with disgust and horror. "You might want to see this." Rushing back up the steps, Spencer stood in the middle of the room. "This must've been his base."

Rossi walked into the room and couldn't keep his mouth closed from shock. From top to bottom, the walls were covered with pictures of Penelope. "These are from last year," his eyes widened as he shook his head. He pointed to one of the pictures, it was a picture of Penelope and the girls standing around a pool, laughing and having a conversation. "My house in the Hamptons," he looked at the others. "The party I threw in the summer when you guys were there."

"He even followed Penelope there?" Emily groaned in disgust. "Do we have an analyst in the BAU right now?"

Spencer scanned the pictures, looking for anything that could give a clue about this guy. "He's skilled."

"Yeah, no kidding." Derek muttered. This is the third time that he has been two steps ahead of them. It's getting really tiring to be following this guy around like a lost puppy.

"No," Spencer explained further. "His photography. They're highly digital and focused. Frame by frame, anyone can tell that it's done by a professional photographer."

Emily narrowed her eyes at some of the pictures. She doesn't see exactly what Spencer could see but when is he ever wrong? "Okay, we'll need a tech analyst in the BAU immediately and search up the name Jacob with professional photographers."

JJ gasped as she tore off one of the pictures. "He took pictures of Henry and Michael." Crumping the picture into a ball with her hands, she shook her head. "I am so sick of this guy." Feeling her phone vibrate in her pockets, she took it out. "Penelope." Her eyes widened, replacing the upset frown into a bright smile. "That's great. I'll tell them right now." Hanging up the phone, she could almost cry. "Luke's awake. Barely five minutes but he's awake." Everybody's expression changed from anger to relief in a split second. JJ couldn't be more relieved. For the past seven months, Luke has been her partner for most cases so she has grown to view Luke as another amazing friend of hers but also a great addition to the team. When she had to make that phone call to his grandmother, informing the poor woman about her grandson - who could possibly die in a few hours, it was one of the most terrifying and heart wrenching things she had to do. Putting her phone away, she glanced back up to Emily. "What do you want us to do, Prentiss?"

Feeling as if two tons of rocks were lifted off her shoulders, Emily quietly put her gun back into the holster as she stared at the team. "We're going to tear this house apart from top to bottom. Whatever we find, it could be a clue. I am sick of being behind this bastard."

Rossi nodded his head. "I couldn't agree more." Taking out a pair of gloves from his front pockets, he drew out a deep breath. "Let's get down to business."

As everybody went on their own path, Derek cleared his throat as he placed his hand around JJ's arm. "JJ," he looked down at her, this petite woman who he has known half his life. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." JJ said. "When have we not yelled at each other?" The team has went through a lot and there were numerous times where they have took it out on each other. "I know you care."

Derek sighed. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe it's because I haven't been out on the field for a while but everything just seems so..."

"Sensitive?" JJ softly smiled. "I understand." She leaned on her toes as she wrapped her arms around Derek. "It's okay. I understand." JJ pulled away from the hug and lightly punch Derek on the arm. "Come on, we have things to do." As she put on her own pair of gloves, something from under the camera equipment caught her attention. "Derek, what is that?"

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he turned to see what JJ is focusing on about, he bent down to pick it up. "It's a book," flipping it around to see if there was anything else about it. "Wait, it's a diary."

"Diary?" JJ suddenly remembered what Penelope had told her during the cognitive dream. "Let me see that." Taking it, JJ gasped before smiling as she showed Derek the front of the diary. " _Daisy_."

"Daisy?" Derek narrowed his eyes at the diary. "Didn't you tell us that Penelope saw this from the other house?"

JJ nodded her head. "I think we just found a crucial evidence."

Derek smirked. "Despite moving places half the time, he always manages to bring this along with him," Derek concluded. "It has to be the most important thing for him." Maybe it's because Penelope caught him off guard earlier when she cut the cameras and found his location within seconds of talking in the dark website, the bastard had to rush out of this place. Forgetting the one thing that he had always made sure to bring along with him. "And now we have it."

. . .

 **Tuesday 5:10PM**

"It's a miracle," the doctor said with a bright astonished smile as he looked at Bernice and Penelope. "Someone with that much injuries and loss of blood, it's really a damn miracle."

Bernice leaned over with her fragile hands clenching onto the doctor. "My grandbaby will be okay?"

"He has to stay in the hospital for a few weeks but," the doctor nodded his head as he pat Bernice's hands for comfort. "He'll recover back in no time. The internal damages aren't that bad. As long as he stays put in the bed and doesn't add pressure to the wounds, he can come back home." He adverted his attention over to Penelope. "And you should go back to your own room."

Penelope cleared her throat. "I'm fine."

"No," the doctor said. "You have been out of bed for too long."

"I'm not hurt." Which isn't exactly a lie. Besides the emotional damage, she isn't hurt like Luke. Of course, she was physically hurt but it's been a week. Not like she was stabbed or - her thoughts were distracted when she felt Luke's grandmother glaring at her. "Wh...What?"

Bernice smiled. "You _are_ hurt." Putting her fragile arms around Penelope's back, she guided her toward her room. "I will take care of my baby. You should rest. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you while you worry so much over him."

"I'm...I'm not _that_ worried about him." Penelope tried to argue but bit back her tongue, realizing that she was trying to argue with an elderly woman. "Yes, Ma'am." She sat down on the hospital bed and watched as Bernice made her way out, going back to her conversation with the doctor. Penelope exhaled deeply and looked around the empty walls that surrounds her. _Beige_. She has been surrounded by beige walls for far too long.

. . .

 **Tuesday 5:40PM**

Luke winced in pain at every movement that he has been trying to do for the last few minutes. The doctor had informed him that the pain will still be there for at least two weeks. What is he suppose to do for two weeks? Feeling suffocated since waking up, he looked down at his feet. If he twists his body right now and try to stand up, an enormous amount of pain will shoot through his stomach and spine.

"What are you doing?!" Bernice raised her voice as she closed the door behind her.

" _Abuela_ ," Luke muttered under his breath. "Just trying to stand up."

Bernice made her way over and immediately smacked his arm. "No."

He chuckled. "Abuela."

"Don't be using that tone." Bernice narrowed her eyes at him. "The doctor said not to move."

"He didn't say to not move." Luke corrected her. "He just said that if I try to move, it'll be painful for a bit."

"That's just like saying to not move." She fixed the blanket around him and sighed. "Do you know how worried I was?"

Luke briefly smiled at her, his hand softly clenching onto hers to reassure that he's fine now. "It was just a few stab wounds."

"Fourteen stab wounds," Bernice shook her head in disapproval. "What were you doing to be getting fourteen stab wounds like that?"

"My job." Luke groaned in pain for a few seconds. "Abuela, you can't stay here once visitation hours are over. I'll be fine."

"I already talked to the doctor, he gave me permission to stay with you all night." Bernice smiled. "You know that no one can say no to your abuela."

Luke knows that better than anyone. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get you scared." He knew that after his parent's death, his grandmother has been trying to make sure to perfect parenting the second time around because of him. It wasn't easy for her. Especially when he decided to be a cop. Taking on the danger of this job, he always tries to make sure to ease her mind - reminding her that he won't leave her behind in this world. "Abuela, I'm still here."

With tears brimming against her eyes, Bernice drew out a deep breath as she struggled to hide her emotions. "You know how scary that phone call was? You know how horrible it is that I recognized a FBI number that wasn't yours?" She closed her eyes briefly. "I am old. I'm the one that should be hovering over the brink of death instead of you, Luke."

"Don't say that."

"Well, don't try to beat death faster than me!"

Luke laughed. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby." Bernice lightly pat his hand as she looked at him. "That Penelope girl..."

"Yeah?"

Bernice couldn't hide the smile. "She cares a lot about you. Even if she is trying to hide it, I can see how she feels."

"Abuela." Luke said sternly. "It's not like that."

"You think it's not like that." Bernice said. "But I know what I see."

"We're friends." Luke cleared his throat. He doesn't quite understand how he feels yet but he definitely knows how Penelope feels. Barely two weeks ago, she couldn't stand the sight of him. With the chaos that surrounds the team, the tension has decreased. "Just friends."

Bernice laughed at the sight of her grandson. He has always been so oblivious to how others are around him. When he was in high school, a ton of girls would devote themselves to him, trying to tell him about their feelings but he didn't know that. He just honestly believed they were kind friends. "Sometimes I wonder if you ever will be able to get married."

Luke furrowed his eyebrows together. "What is this marriage talk suddenly about?"

"My poor baby." Bernice laughed.

. . .

 **Tuesday 6:00PM**

"Spence," JJ slowly walked over to Spencer's side. He found a couple of books that the bastard had in one of the rooms. "Don't read those." Handing him the diary, she gave a sheepish smile. "There's like...a hundred pages there."

Spencer glanced between the diary and JJ with an arched eyebrow. "And you want me to read it?"

"You are the one with - " Before JJ could finish, Spencer just quietly took the diary out of her hands and flip through the pages in no time. "Thanks." She checked the time on her watch, quickly adverting her attention over to Emily. "Who's on guard at the hospital?"

"Tara called me," Emily answered. "She's heading over there right now. Walker is heading over to us, lending a helping hand." Despite two hours having gone by, the forensic team aren't even half finished with the house. Each picture is being properly taken in, the camera equipment are being dusted for prints. There is just so much to do or at least the team is just being careful with every little detail.

JJ opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted when Spencer suddenly stood up, his fingers going over some words as he read out loud. " _I'm scared for my life. It's as if somebody is following me everywhere I go. Is it normal to turn my head over my shoulders, worried if somebody's going to snatch me? Is this feeling normal or am I just paranoid?_ " He stopped reading and looked at the women. "This was dated almost two years ago."

"Two years ago? Does that - "

"I'm not done." Spencer held up a finger to interrupt as he flipped through the pages and read some of the lines he found. " _He's been watching me. I've seen him follow me, I wasn't crazy. God, I am scared for my life. I shouldn't have helped him that day. I shouldn't have gone to work that day. If I hadn't, he wouldn't have seen me. Is it bad that I want this to happen for someone else instead of me? What can I do for him to leave me alone?"_ He closed the diary as he cleared his throat. "Work. Daisy met him during her work, she caught his attention."

Emily nodded her head. "We have to find out who this Daisy girl is."

"Or was..." JJ said. "Most stalking cases imply that a stalker wouldn't find a new target unless..."

"Their original target is dead." Spencer finished. "I'll keep reading to see if she wrote any personal information that we can use. Maybe she wrote where she used to work or some places she frequent on her own." He sat back down and skimmed through the pages on his own again.

"Are we for certain that she's dead?" JJ asked.

"If she's not, why change the target to Garcia?" Emily questioned back. "We have to look at this case from her perspective. You said so yourself, a stalker doesn't change his target unless they're dead."

JJ nodded her head. "Everything makes sense now. How obsessed he was with daisies and how he kept insisting on calling Penelope by that name. He wanted to turn her into his original target. He wanted to perfect into the Daisy he knows and loves."

"If he found Daisy at her workplace like she says," Emily sighed. "There's a possibility that he found interest in Penelope through work too. Or any of the volunteer work that she does on her own when she's not on a case."

"I'll make sure to ask Penelope, maybe have her go through another cognitive test. She may have seen this Unsub before and she just doesn't know it."

Spencer stopped reading for a brief second, having to listen to them talk at the same time. "Isn't that scary? A random stranger out of all the strangers we see on a daily basis, they could end up being a narcissistic stalker who murders people."

. . .

 **Tuesday 6:29PM**

"Thanks," Luke whispered quietly to the nurse as soon as she helped him onto the wheelchair. For the last hour, he has been listening to his grandma complaining about what has been happening to her little shop. He has heard those stories so many times when he was younger, it's literally imprinted in his brain. "I'll just wander around for a few minutes."

The nurse sighed. "You better or I'll be trouble with not only the doctor but your grandmother." She glanced over at Bernice, who fell asleep on the couch. "She's one scary little lady."

Luke chuckled as he settled comfortably into the wheelchair. "She is." Placing his hands onto the wheels, he slowly made his way out of the room and around the hallways. A familiar face in the waiting room caused him to turn the wheelchair around and enter the room with a small smile spread across his face. "Lewis."

Tara lifted her eyes off from the book and smiled. "How do you feel?"

"Hmmm..." Luke looked down at the wheelchair for a few seconds as he chuckled. "At least I'm alive."

"Yes." Tara agreed. "I heard you were stabbed fourteen times? You're a survivor."

Luke moved over to the end of the wall so the entrance wouldn't be blocked for anyone. "Everyone keeps saying that."

"It's true." Tara said.

Luke tapped his fingers against the wheels. "Have you been working on the case since today? Is there anything else that happened that I should know about?"

"He wasn't there." Tara informed Luke. "The house's empty and it's not leased under anyone with the name Jacob. So the team is thinking that maybe - "

"Maybe he killed another family to use that house as another hideout?" It's nothing new. It seems to be his pattern on handling things. "Have they found any bodies?"

Tara shook her head. "Not from what they've searched so far." She glanced at the time, almost close to seven at night. "I think the team is heading back home around nine. They want to spend a couple more hours at the house."

Luke glanced around, his eyes settling over to the windows. The sun's slowly going down and the sounds of cars honking, indicating the rush hour near the hospital has started. "Have you seen Penelope?"

"No." Tara answered. "She actually - " she cleared her throat and sighed. "When she came back to her own room, I was told that she fell asleep. That's when she had another nightmare and started screaming. Doctor and nurses rushed in and injected her with the sleeping medicine again." She could see the worried expression written all over his face. "She's fine. The doctor also told me something was different."

"What?"

"The nightmare she had," Tara sighed. "It wasn't about her."

Luke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What was it about?"

"She was screaming about you."

"Me?"

Tara nodded her head as she closed the book in her hand. "Supposedly, she dreamt of you passing away and she was crying in her sleep. Your name was echoing throughout the hallways. You didn't hear her scream?"

"No." Luke said. If he had heard her screaming, he would've come running in with or without a wheelchair. "I have to see her."

"She's asleep." Tara stopped him. "You know that she needs as much sleep as she can."

Luke took his hands off the wheel and sighed. "I understand."

Tara could see that Luke wanted to see Penelope really bad. "I heard that she was by your side when you woke up from the coma." She smiled. "That's nice." Putting the book away into her bag, she folded her hands onto her lap. "No matter how much she says she dislikes you, it's always the opposite of what she says. It's what she feels is what's important." She watched as Luke's eyes were staring out directing to the window, he's probably lost in his own thoughts. "What's funnier is that you do and say the same thing as how you feel, the polar opposite of what she does." It's not a secret that the team already knows Penelope and Luke like each other, it's just the matter if they know it or not. Under certain circumstances, it looks as if Penelope doesn't know how Luke feels about her. And Luke doesn't understand his own feelings.

"You know what's funny?" Luke cleared his throat. "Although I was in a coma, I felt her. It was like I could see, feel and hear everything she was saying but I couldn't say anything. I was trapped in my own body."

"Comas tend to have that kind of affect."

Luke looked down at his hands. "She was crying when she sat by my side. About how she needed me to tell her that it's not her fault I got hurt. She needed me to reassure that she'll be fine and kept muttering out how annoying I am even when I wasn't conscious."

Tara laughed. "Sounds just like how you two talk to each other."

"This might be random," Luke start to say. "But what does everybody else see that I don't see?" Since the conversation he had with his grandmother earlier, he couldn't get her words out his head. What is it that makes people believe that Penelope does like him? As confuse with his feelings as he is, he doesn't understand how other people can see what he doesn't. And indicating what kind of conversation Tara is leaning towards right now, he can only assume that she thinks the same as others.

"I think you're afraid, the same goes with Penelope." Tara shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I am not the one to tell you to understand how you feel or know what those feelings in there," pointing to his heart. "showcases for you. But I can tell you, it's something you probably never felt before."

Luke looked at her. "Yeah..." He put his hand over his heart, feeling the heartbeat of it as the seconds go by. "When I'm near her, I feel different. Not only do I want to protect her at all costs, I just want to be there. When I'm away, I keep thinking about her."

Tara nodded her head. "For a profiler, you sure suck at knowing what possibly love is."

"What?" Luke asked. "Love?" She's right. Besides the love for his parents and grandmother, he never had the time to feel love for anyone else. His life has always been a one track mind. Within seven months, could he have fallen in love without knowing? He blinked his eyes several times, trying to process the information. "What do I do?"

Tara laughed. "I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"Penelope doesn't feel the same." Luke said for certain. "She hates me."

"Would somebody who hates you, stay by your side until you woke up? Open up to you about her pain and fears despite being surrounded by a group of people who she has known for years? Or how about when she locked herself up, not wanting to involve herself in the case no matter what? And when you suddenly got hurt, what's the first thing she does? Jump right off that bed and help out the case." Tara looked at Luke. "I think I know how she truly feels about you. The problem is, do you see it?"

Her words repeated in his head over and over again. Luke looked at her, his hands on the wheels. "By the way," he softly smiles. "I'm a profiler in training."  
Tara cracked a smile. "Well, Profiler In Training - think about it. Do you realize how you feel about Penelope Garcia yet?"

. . .

 **Tuesday 11:00PM**

Penelope opened her eyes to the sound of someone scratching the walls. It was dark in her room. As she sat up on the hospital bed, she froze once she saw a dark silhouette in the corner of the room. "Who...who are you?"

The scratching stopped. "I'm sorry."

It was a female voice. Penelope doesn't recognize the sound of the voice. "Why are you in my room?"

"I'm sorry."

"Stop saying sorry and just leave." Penelope demanded in a low voice. Her hand slowly reaches over to the red button, hovering over it. "Who are..."

The dark silhouette moved in the seat. There's no light in the room so Penelope couldn't catch the facial features. "Please don't press the button. I had to sneak my way inside of here because I was scared."

"Scared?" Penelope looked around. "Are you a patient here?"

"No."

Penelope looked at the mysterious woman. "Why are you in my room? Why are you scared?"

"Because..." The dark silhouette stood up from the chair and moved across the room to where the door was. "I didn't want him to see me."

"Excuse me?" The lights suddenly turned on, blinding Penelope for a few seconds as her eyes weren't prepared for it. As she blinked and her vision returning to normal. She stared at a tall, brunette woman from across the room. Penelope gasped, the woman looks as if she has properly eaten or drank anything in days.

The woman stared at Penelope, a small smile spreading across her face as she fidget her hands together. "So, that's how you look like."

That's when Penelope became alert again. "How do you know me?"

"Daisy." She whispered through her teeth in a low voice that made it hard to hear what she was saying.

"What?" Penelope knit her eyebrows.

"I'm Daisy."

Penelope's eyes widened, her hand dropping from the red button as she stared at the woman in shock.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Wednesday 8:00AM**

"I'm sorry," Derek walked into the waiting room where the others are. "I didn't hear wrong through the phone, right?" He furrowed his eyebrows together in astonishment. "Daisy was in Penelope's room last night? The woman that we're all considering to be the original target in Jacob's stalking motivated life?"

Emily nodded her head. "I know, it's crazy." When she woke up in the middle night to Penelope calling her through the hospital's phone, informing her of this sudden appearance. She had thought Penelope was just imagining things from a nightmare but words from the nurses matched with Penelope. "She's still in there. Evidently, she doesn't want to go anywhere outside of the room."

"Why?" Tara asked.

"It took her a lot of courage to step out of her hiding spot," Emily said. "She's scared. If she steps out again, he'll find her."

Spencer fixed his tie. "Staying in the same room with the new target by the same stalker isn't the brightest idea in the world."

JJ sighed. "That's what we tried to explain to her but she's not listening to anyone else but Penelope."

"She feels connected with Penelope in some way," Stephen said. "As a victim herself, she probably doesn't trust anyone else with the exception of a group of people who went through the same horror."

"And considering that we don't know if there are any other victims," Luke spoke after staying silent since the others had met up with him. He had to wake up early and ask for Stephen and Rossi's help to get him onto the wheelchair. "There is no group for Daisy to run off to. Penelope is her only source that can understand the same pain." He glanced up at the team. "The same goes with Penelope."

Derek closed his eyes briefly as he sat down. "What are we going to do? If Daisy doesn't want to leave Penelope's side and the same goes with her, are we just going to leave probably the two most unstable people in the world together?"

Emily cleared her throat. "Yes, that's exactly what we're going to do." She took a deep breath. "Section Chief wants this guy caught. He has hurt two of our own deliberately while managing to get away with it. We're not going to work on any other case until we put the damn bastard behind bars."

"Has the results come back from the forensic team yet?" JJ asked. The team had stayed a few extra hours inside the house, trying their best to look for the smallest detail. Besides the diary, wall of photos and camera equipment - nothing much stood out for the team that could help them in the case. Of course, finding the bodies shoved into the back of the closet also adds the body count for the guy. He's a serial killer with extreme stalker tendencies. "There has to be something for us," feeling suffocated and lost for almost weeks now. JJ has been wondering to herself if she could survive this case. It's not for her own well being but for Penelope's. Knowing that your best friend was severely hurt by someone and always looking over her shoulders, JJ has never felt so useless than right now. "What about the diary?" Adverting her attention over to Spencer, her eyes practically pleading. "You found something?"

"Besides the obvious small handwriting," Spencer pointed out. "No." The diary was filled with nothing but sentences of how Daisy feared for her life. How every single walking moment outside her house, she felt as if she would get snatched up. It made him frustrated that Daisy never wrote down his name. Maybe it could be that she never got to know his name but it could've been used as valid evidence for the future court trials. "Did we get something for the M.E?"

"The bodies been dead for a least a couple months." Rossi informed the team. "Not as long as the grandparents and grandchildren that we found in the other house but it's still a family." He looked at the team. "A family with a house that he needed for a brief secret hideout."

Tara snapped her fingers before she turned around to look through her bag. "I forgot," she flipped through the photos that Emily had brought for her earlier. "I looked through some of the photos and noticed something." Laying out a couple of pictures on the nearby table for the team to have a full look at, she cleared her throat. "What do you notice?"

"Penelope." Luke answered.

"Yes but what else?" Tara asked further.

Derek leaned closer, narrowing his eyes at the photos. "Her hair." He pointed at two of the photos that were taken with a close up on Penelope. "Most of the photos are close ups her face but the main point is her hair." Moving his finger, he pointed out other photos where you can barely see Penelope's face but it seems as if the main attraction of the photos is her hair.

"Why would he do that?" JJ asked.

Tara took out some more photos. "These are pictures from inside her house," The team had found other pictures hidden in one of the drawers from yesterday's search. It seems as if he had managed to sneak into her house, taking photos of her bed and little figurines. "These are things that indicate who Penelope is."

JJ nodded her head. "Why would he take photos of just her figurines? Look. He even took pictures of her clothes."

"As if he was taking pictures to know more about who she is." Spencer said.

"Which is normal when you're a stalker." Rossi remarked.

"Do you remember?" Emily could sense that the team's about to reveal a big clue. "The first couple days when Penelope was in the hospital, she said nothing to us and only to the nurses." She crossed her arms. "One time, the nurse came up to me and said if Penelope was ever a brunette before."

"No." JJ quickly answered.

Emily nodded her head. "Exactly. The nurse had explained that Penelope kept repeating in her sleep that the Unsub kept wanting to change her. He wanted to make her perfect. We've seen the basement, the videos, the daises and the notes. Jacob's main goal besides wanting to force Penelope to love him was to change her from who she originally is."

"I get that," Derek said. "That's what we came up during the victimology. And that wouldn't make sense if we're all assuming Daisy was the original target. I haven't seen her but I've been told that she's a blond? Penelope and Daisy are blonds, right?"

"She's not." Emily said. "She has brunette hair, Morgan."

"Not blond?" Derek questioned.

Luke moved around in the wheelchair. "Our first assumption is right then."

"Not quite." Emily deduced. "We know that Jacob's somehow really good in what he does. What if Daisy wasn't his original target? What if there was never an original target in the first place?"

"That wouldn't make sense because victimology would be just mess up." JJ said. "We'll have to go back to the board and rethink everything about this guy. Victimology has to match. We have to find out more about Daisy and start comparing some of the things she does or loves with what Penelope loves. Maybe that's where their common grounds meet and how they became his target."

"I've seen her." Emily said. "She's brunette but she didn't originally have it since birth. Penelope loves changing her hair sometimes."

"Hair color," Spencer suggested. "Both women love to change their hair? I don't know. Statistically, it's a little insane to become obsessed with someone over just a hair color change."

Derek stood up. "I agree. Em, you're not making sense right now. What you're trying to say is that Daisy and Penelope had fallen victim to just being alike with some different woman?"

"No." Emily sighed. "For weeks, we were assuming that Penelope became a target because she matches with the original target in Jacob's mind. The hair, the unique personality - we were putting those in consideration while comparing to an invisible someone." She looked at the team, she knows they are the smartest group of people in the field. "What if all along it wasn't about a specific someone that he has been trying to stalk?"

Spencer's mind started to click. "As in there was something between Daisy and Penelope, detail or personality wise that attracted Jacob? It was never about the person itself. It was always about how he views them in his own mind." He started to remember the little flower notes that the team had found early on in the investigation. "What if he actually believes he can change them? That Garcia was never meant to be a quirky, outspoken, blond woman in his mind? What if he sees her as the opposite and is aiming toward changing into his version until he's happy?"

Derek knows that his mind hasn't been 100% into the case due to his emotions but right now, the team is making absolutely no sense for him. "Wait a minute," he held his hands up in the air. "What about the name? Daisy is Daisy. Penelope is Penelope. Why is he forcing Penelope to view or call herself Daisy?"

Luke nodded his head in agreement. "If we really do think that this wasn't never about stalking someone who is familiar to him but a different kind of stalking mission for Jacob. Why the name? And what does that have to do with the hair? If he's really not viewing them as a reminder of someone previously in his life, why is he obsessed with wanting to change their hair?"

"Assumption." Tara said quietly. All the team is doing is assuming and guessing, something out of the ordinary for them. "We can't just stand here and assume that Jacob is stalking them over hair until we know for sure." There is just something she feels different in her guts. "I still think Penelope and Daisy became targets because they remind him of _somebody_ , not something."

Stephen took a deep breath. "I've never been so confuse on a case like this one." The only valuable information that he got from this conversation is the fact that the team still doesn't know why Jacob is doing what he's doing. Why the murders? Why the stalking? Why the hair obsession, if he even has one? Why the obsession of the name Daisy? It's more as if the team has become more confused and faltering in loss hope than before after this conversation.

"If we want to know or understand anything about this bastard, we have to go to the one person that seems to be the most reliable source here." Tara suggested. "All we're doing right now is assuming and we don't do that. Regardless if she is uncomfortable or not, she has to help us. With the help, the bastard can be put behind bars. Penelope and Daisy would be able to breathe freely again without worrying over their shoulders." She looked at Emily. "Hair, name, why them? Don't you think we should understand what each of them mean from her? Before we stand here and make assumptions." She shrugged her shoulders. "Regardless of whatever kind of stalking he is doing, he's still murdering people one by one and harming more people along the way."

Emily sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. Maybe I'm just wrong on the whole thing because of the stress going on from the case. We can't make assumption based on pictures or conversations that nurses has heard before." As Unit Chief, she should've thought better. She shouldn't have assumed this or that based on little details that hasn't been proven yet. "JJ," she looked at her friend. "In order for us to understand why he's actually stalking Penelope, we have to know what attracted him to Daisy. If she does remind him of someone, you have to ask her. I want you to spend the day with Penelope and Daisy, slowly gain their trust and maybe with that, they can actually remember something helpful."

JJ nodded her head. "I got it."

Luke glanced up. "What do you want me to do?"

"Rest." Emily ordered. "You barely just had surgery. We shouldn't have even woken you up for this meeting."

. . .

 **Wednesday 9:10AM**

"You can have mine," Penelope slid her breakfast tray over to Daisy. "I'm not that hungry."

Daisy glanced up. "Are you sure?"

Slowly nodding her head, Penelope reassured her with a small smile. "Go ahead." Although it's only been a couple hours but she feels horribly bad for this woman. Coming here out of nowhere, out of her own safety zone just because she heard that somebody went through the same thing? "You didn't have to come here, you know. Safety should be your first priority."

"Safety?" Daisy repeated as she bit into the piece of toast. "Hiding in the corner, wondering when will the door open and he walks inside? No. I rather stay here, knowing that you're here. I mean, your friends are cops right?"

"Agents." Penelope corrected her. "How did you find out about me? And why would you know if we went through the same thing by the same person?"

"Daisies." Daisy replied. "It's the flowers."

Penelope knit her eyebrows in confusion. "Flowers?"

"I turned on the television and every channel I was flipping to, it was talking about how you went missing. Details on how it happened and how the media is thinking that you were being stalked came up. They revealed that you had flowers sent to you every week by an anonymous sender. And it always happened to be daisies." Daisy stopped eating for a brief second and looked at Penelope. "I had the same thing. For weeks, my workplace and home kept having flowers sent there. At first, it was cute. I thought maybe it was a secret admirer." Daisy cleared her throat as her voice slowly became shaky. "It's cute. Secret admirers are meant to be cute and never known. Until it became so frequent and alarming that I got scared."

Penelope clenched her hands together. "What made you scared?"

"The notes from the flowers. It was always the same." Daisy took a deep breath. "You're as perfect as - "

"A field of daisies." Penelope immediately finished. She can forget those words. "How long? How long were you with him?"

Daisy blinked her eyes. "Four months."

Penelope gasped. She had only been with him for a week and the pain that he gave her, it's already tremendously awful enough to scar her for life. The mere thought of Daisy being stuck with him for four months, unable to get help or escape in that time - tears immediately brimmed against Penelope's eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"What? No." Daisy shook her head. "I should be the one that's sorry. If I didn't manage to escape, he wouldn't need to go out and find another person to stalk. What you went through, it's all my fault."

"No. Absolutely not. Why would it - " she paused and exhaled deeply. "So, that's how I sound like."

Daisy looked at Penelope with confusion written all over her face. "What are you talking about?"

"Always blaming myself when it's not my fault." Penelope said. "None of this is our fault. It has taken a lot of convincing for me to sit here and give you these words of advice but," she makes sure Daisy was staring at her. "This isn't our fault. Don't think that we were on the wrong place, wrong time. That's not it." That's when Luke's words repeated in her mind. "A wise friend of mine told me this." Penelope softly smiled as she repeated Luke's words to Daisy. " _Don't think like that. It isn't your fault. Repeat after me. It's not your fault_."

"You're lucky," Daisy slid both of the trays away. "You're surrounded by so many people."

"I mean," Penelope shrugged her shoulders. "They're friends of mine but they're also agents. I'd be worried if they weren't surrounded around me, no matter how annoying it gets when they keep asking if I'm fine." She bit her lower lip, wondering if she should ask or not. There's been a question hovering over her mind since she saw Daisy. "Did he..." Maybe she shouldn't ask. "Never mind."

"You wanted to ask if he did what he did with you, with me?" Daisy asked. "No." Feeling relieved that it never reached to the point, she briefly smiled. "I just barely ate."

Penelope narrowed her eyes. "That's it?" Feeling a little taken back, she cleared her throat. It's a good thing. What she went through is horrible enough, if Daisy never actually got sexually assaulted by him, it's good. A person should never hope or wish for such a thing to happen to a woman. "How'd you find me?" She understood the whole media part. Penelope has been trying so hard to not look through the trending topics on the internet or even the news on the television. She's not used to that kind of attention especially the kind that keeps calling her out as a victim.

"I wandered to different hospitals..." Daisy answered. "Until I found you."

"But how - " the sound of someone knocking on the door distracted her. JJ opened the door, with a small smile. "JJ..."

JJ cleared her throat. "I hope you don't mind but can I stay inside? Someone has to be on guard and today's my turn."

"Guard?" Daisy asked. "There wasn't one here last night. That's how I was able to get inside the room."

"There was," JJ answered. "Agent Lewis was just inside the waiting room since she didn't want to distract Penelope from her sleep." She sat down on the couch, her eyes glancing between Daisy and Penelope. Visual wise, they couldn't be anymore different than each other. Daisy has a sharp cheekbones and a slender body. The way she keeps adverting her eyes anywhere but toward people's eyes also indicates that she's either fearful or naturally hard to interact with. Penelope, she's a people's person. She's lively, quirky, and sassy. It seems as if their personalities are also different. "My name is Jennifer Jareau, what's yours?"

"Daisy."

JJ glanced over at Penelope, indicating that she needs help. They need an actual full name to start searching through possible missing person reports. Getting the message through JJ's eyes, Penelope looked over at Daisy. "It would help us if you can say your full name? It'll be easier for my friends to protect you if they know who you exactly are."

"Daisy Carter."

"Thank you." JJ said. "I know you probably feel uncomfortable and a little doubtful to be around me and my other friends. We don't understand the pain and suffering you went through. But I am just glad that you're okay and safe. The fact that you managed to get here, that's very brave of you." She softly smiled, trying to ease Daisy's uncomfortableness. "I know it wasn't easy for you to do."

Penelope could sense what was going on. The case has become more urgent and more in the public's eyes since Luke got hurt. "Let me do it."

Confused on what she meant, JJ stared at her. "What?"

"Tech analyst." Penelope said confidently. "Hospitalized or not, I am still BAU's relief of hope and dreams."

She knew that Penelope would do this. "No. You still need your rest."

"I helped big time last night." Penelope argued.

"Under circumstances, yes." JJ explained. "We were in midst of a - "

Penelope leaned over and opened the top drawer next to the hospital bed. "I'm doing it." Taking out a laptop, Penelope immediately started typing away on the keyboard. She could practically imagine JJ rolling her eyes right now. Feeling more determine than ever, Penelope glanced up from the screen - giving Daisy a reassuring smile.

. . .

 **Wednesday 10:00AM**

Luke returned to his room after the meeting. As soon as he was alone, he wheeled himself over to the window for fresh air. He has been watching the cars go by for more than a few minutes now. Since last night, Tara's words has been repeating in his head over and over again. Has he started liking Penelope without realizing it? Does he feel more about her than he should be? And even if he does, what can he do?

He took a deep breath, his eyes glancing up toward the sky. Penelope would never like him. Sure, they've become closer in a span of a week than the seven months of teasing and joking that they had. But none of his feelings would matter if the feelings aren't reciprocated.

Slowly, he lift his hand over to his heart - feeling the rush paced irregular heartbeats that he's having as he thinks of Penelope. Before he knew it, a smile spread across his face. Seeing his own reflection on the window, that's when he saw it. The expression he has written all over his face as he keeps thinking of Penelope Garcia.

. . .

 **Wednesday 3:00PM**

"She's smiling a lot," JJ informed the team as soon as they met up again. She sat down across from Emily and next to Spencer in the hospital's cafeteria. The team has no energy to be traveling for food. "I think the fact that Daisy is there with her eases her mind a bit. Penelope is trying really hard for her."  
Emily smiled. "That's really good. She just needed to motivate someone instead of us trying to do so with her."

JJ cracked a sincere smile on her face. "She's starting to be stubborn again." Can't help but wipe a few tears away from her eyes, she took a deep breath. "I've missed that stubbornness."

"How's Luke?" Rossi asked.

"His grandmother has to work today," Spencer said as he took a bite of his food. "She asked for us to take care of him on her behalf."

Emily took a sip of her water. "Did anyone know that he has only his grandmother?" Since joining the team, Luke spoke very rarely of his family. The fact that they found out that his only living family member is his grandmother, it was heartbreaking.

"It seems as if Luke keeps to himself a lot." Derek said.

"Not with Penelope." JJ said. "We've seen how he is around her. He acts differently with her even if he doesn't realizes it."

Rossi leaned against his chair and took a deep breath. "When do you think they'll confess?"

JJ took a peek at Spencer's sandwich, wondering if it's something she can eat. "Penelope and Luke? For him, until he realizes how he feels about her. Penelope? It's hard to say about her."

Emily felt her phone vibrate. Taking her phone out, she arched an eyebrow. "Uh, Penelope just sent me a text."

"What is it?" Derek asked.

"She said she wants to meet all of us in the doctor's office." Emily looked around at the team, wondering what could this be about. "Should I be worried?"  
"Do you think she found something about Daisy?"

Rossi stood up. "About time. Whatever information we get, at least it's still progress."

. . .

 **Wednesday 4:10PM**

"What's the matter?" Derek questioned as he closed the door behind him.

Penelope sighed. "Something's off."

Luke looked at her. "What's off?"

"Daisy."

Tara crossed her arms. "What's off about her?"

"You know as much as I do, I know trauma really well. Not because of what I went through but because of the counseling I did every week with the group." Penelope shrugged her shoulders, feeling unsure about everything. "I can read trauma almost immediately. At first, maybe it was because I was thrilled to see Daisy alive but as she talked about her experience with Jacob - nothing fit right."

"Maybe the way he was with her was just different with how he treated you." Rossi suggested.

"That's what I thought too." Penelope agreed. "Until I started doing my keyboard magic and came up empty."

"Empty?" Emily repeated. "You never come up empty with you work on computers, Penelope."

"Exactly." Penelope turned her laptop around, showing the team the screen. "JJ was there when she told us her name. Daisy Carter." On the middle of the screen, a flashing number showcases how many Daisy Carter's are there in the United States. ZERO. "That's odd, right?"

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows. "Maybe she's just scared? Revealing her real name could mean harm for her."

"Yeah." Penelope said. "Until I did this." She quickly type a different name into the system and one picture showed up on the screen.

Stephen narrowed his eyes in surprise. "Carter Daisy?" A picture of the woman the team knows as Daisy is on the middle of the screen. "Her name's Carter Daisy?"

"Not her real name." Penelope clicked on another section. "Birth name is Carter Williams but she legally changed it to Carter Daisy a year ago." She took a deep breath. "She has a record." Penelope opened one of the criminal history folders.

Luke moved his wheelchair closer to the screen to read her past arrests. "Assault and battery? Identity Fraud?" He couldn't hide his shock. "Who is this woman?"

"Wait a minute," Spencer rummaged through his bag for the diary. Flipping through some of the pages, he stopped and read a paragraph out loud for them. " _I think I'm going crazy. I can't walk on the streets without thinking that somebody is following me. The fact that I have to keep looking over my shoulders is driving me insane. Is this how a person should live their life? If it weren't for Carter, I think I might lose it. Thankfully, she was there today. Helping me walk on the streets so I wouldn't get hurt. It's weird. She has only been my friend for a little over a month but she understands me so well. It's as if she's my guardian angel. Being her friend must've brought something good for me. I should stop being paranoid now. It has been a month since I've seen him around_."

"Carter?" Tara asked. "That has to be a lot more than a coincidence. Having a friend named Carter and the stalking suddenly felt as if it stopped?"

JJ narrowed her eyes at the picture on the screen. "What if that's not it? I'm talking about earlier in Penelope's room. When I was sitting across from her today, I thought that she didn't want to look at me in the eye because she didn't trust me yet. Maybe even uncomfortable." She snapped her fingers, her eyes alarmed. "What if she actually couldn't look at me in the eye because she knew that I would know something was off once she does?"

"What does that make me?" Penelope asked. "I spent almost twelve hours with her, telling stories of what I went through with Jacob because I thought she went would understand my pain, the tears I spent in the freezing cold. I just don't understand. I mean, I saw it. The look of pain on her face, those tears - " she tore her eyes away from the screen, visibly angry. "They were all a lie?"

Feeling as if something is definitely off, Emily leaned over and took the doctor's office phone. Dialing the number to the nurse's reception desk across from Penelope's room, she waited for somebody to pick up. "This is Agent Prentiss. Can you tell me if our visitor is still in the room?" She waited a few seconds. "Do not let her leave. Don't be alarmed or anything. Act causal." Hanging up the phone, she looked at Penelope. "Tara's right. It's too much of a coincidence that in the diary, it stated that she met a friend named Carter after being stalked."

"What does this mean?" Penelope asked, she's not as quick as her profilers.

Luke sighed. "It means that we were wrong on the profile."

Stephen nodded his head. "Jacob. He's not working alone."

"Are you seriously telling that I was in the same room with..." Penelope wanted to throw up. Feeling overwhelmed and dizzy over the sudden findings, she didn't know what to do. Just as she was about to stand up from her seat and run out of the office for some air, she felt someone intertwining their hand with her own hand. She adverted her attention over to Luke, the one who can only keep her calm at the moment.

"Stay here." Emily directed her words to Penelope and Luke. "Come on." Immediately, the rest of the team rushed out of the office.

As soon as they were alone, Penelope looked down at their interlocked hands. "I shared everything with her..."

Luke closed his eyes. "I know." He doesn't know what to say. "I'm sorry."

"Why? Why is she helping someone like him?" Penelope didn't want to believe all of this. Her eyes adverted over to the laptop screen, the picture of this woman looking back at her. "She seemed..."

"Relatable." Luke interrupted. "I think that was their goal. If she was never Daisy from the beginning, we have assume that the real Daisy is - "  
Penelope nodded her head. "Dead."

Luke looked down at their hands and couldn't help but think as if Penelope is probably uncomfortable with the hand holding. Slowly he tried to pull his hand away but paused once he felt her squeeze. "Penelope..."

"There is something I have to tell you." Penelope said slowly.

"Okay."

"Do you remember when I said that he got angry because of what I said?"

Luke nodded his head. "The truth about your feelings," he repeated what he remembered from the conversation. "Why are you asking?"

Penelope can't hide this fact anymore. If he has to know about every single detail on the case, he has to know the truth. Especially after he got hurt like this. He became a target because of her words. "What did you think I said? The truth."

"I just thought that maybe you said you don't love him." Luke explained. "It's something he would be angry about."

"No." Penelope finally looked up from the floor and looked straight into Luke's eyes. "You got hurt because of what I said. Since then, I've been sitting in my room wondering if I should tell you. Maybe a part of me is scared because of what you would say. I mean, for seven months, I've been nothing but rude to you. I never was nice to you when you joined the team. So what right do I have to feel what I feel?" She took a deep breath, trying to relax her nerves. "The fear of being rejected probably overcame me and I never - "

Luke blinked his eyes several times in confusion. "Wait - " he looked at Penelope, his eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

"I told him that I liked you." Penelope finally confessed. "He showed your face on the screen and I became scared on what he would do to you. That's when I realized that I've liked you since the second week you joined the team. I just never knew or came to understand those feelings until I was kidnapped. The moment I was dying, I thought of you. The moment I was getting hurt, I thought of you. The moment I was freezing in the cold, I just kept thinking of you." Tears started brimming against her eyes, she could tell he's shocked. She knew that this would happen. He would never feel the same way as she does but that's not important. "These feelings may seem sudden to you but I don't care because these feelings don't matter. Nothing will ever happen, I promise. I just thought..." she shrugged her shoulders. "The fact that you became a target is because of me. I know you said to not think it's my fault and trust me, I've been trying. Heck, I even told whoever she is, the same words you told me on the rooftop. But as much as I want to believe in those words, I can't help but think that he's out to get you now because of me." She paused, waiting to see if Luke would react but he's just sitting there like a rock. "Because of the words of _I like him_ , _I like Luke Alvez_ came out of my mouth. Not only did you get hurt but the poor housekeeper died."  
Luke pulled his hand away from Penelope, his mind processing her words as the next few minutes went by. "I - "

"It's okay. I don't care that you don't feel the same, it really doesn't matter."

"No," Luke shook his head. "Penelope, listen to me. I - " the office door opened with Rossi showing up. "She tried to run but we got her."

Penelope stood up. "Where is she?"

"Come on." Rossi opened the door wider.

Before Luke could get any other words in, Penelope immediately rushed out of the room behind Rossi. Taking a deep breath, he pushed the wheels over to the scene that has almost everybody on the hospital floor's attention.

"Carter Williams - "

"Daisy!" She screamed while struggling from Emily's hold. "My name's Carter Daisy!"

"You're under arrest." Emily continued. "Anything you say will - "

Carter stopped struggling once she saw Penelope standing next to the other agents. Her expression immediately changed. "I was good, wasn't I? Can't believe you also fell for my act." Emily tried to push her forward to bring her back to the BAU for questioning but Carter managed to fight her off. As soon as she was on her own, she rushed toward Penelope while laughing hysterically. JJ and Derek blocked Penelope from her but that still didn't stop her from talking. "He'll get you again. He never fails." Carter warned as she glared at the agents, her eyes stopping at Luke before she looked at Penelope again. "Haven't you wondered why you couldn't find her? Daisy?" She grinned with satisfaction. "She's dead."

"Shut up." Emily grabbed her arms. "Let's go."

"I can smell your fear from here, Penelope. Just know that when you sleep, he's watching. When you breathe, he's there! And once he's done preparing, he's not going to come here to just hurt your little crush! He'll be here to take you!" Carter eventually was pushed into the elevators but her laugh was still echoing through the hallways for them to hear.

Penelope took a deep breath. "What do we do?"

Derek turned around, his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry. She's only taunting you."

"What if he does get me again?" Penelope's shaky voice almost broke everybody's heart. "I can't act strong anymore if he does. I can't be the heroine behind the screen to help you again. If he gets me again, everything I've been working on the past two days - learning to be brave, learning to not - " she stopped talking. "It'll be for nothing but failure."

"He won't. I promise." Rossi said.

Penelope suddenly felt tired and weak. Without warning, she fainted into Derek's arms. "Penelope..." Derek carried her, his eyes looking at the team. "We can't let her stay here anymore. If Carter's taunt does end up being true, we have to take her somewhere else."

Luke nodded his head. "I'm not staying here either."

. . .

 **Wednesday 4:40PM**

Jacob leaned against his chair with a smirk plastered on his face. The team's faces were on his screen. He had managed to reboot his system and go through the hospital's new security. Everything that had just happened, he watched it with such amusement. Picking up his glass of water, he adverted his attention elsewhere. "Would you like some water?" Not waiting for an answer, he finished the water within seconds. "Ahh, too bad." Standing up from his chair, he made his way over to the corner of the room. "It's nice to meet you."

With her hands and legs tied up and a tape over her mouth, Bernice sat in the corner of the room. Her eyes filled with fiery and determination, she is not going to show this man fear.

"Quiet person, aren't you?" Jacob sighed. "That's alright. I don't need to hear words from you anyway."

She silently watched as he went back over to his computers. Bernice took notice of the building and room, mentally remembering every single detail. Showing this man fear is the last thing she'll ever do. She is not going down without a damn fight.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Thursday 8:00AM**

"Someone please tell me that other than sitting around here like lost puppies, we actually have something on this bastard and his little minon." Derek said as he sat down in the conference room with the others.

Emily rubbed her temples as she sighed. "Seventeen hours." She opened her eyes and looked at the team. "Carter Williams has been sitting in that interrogation room for seventeen hours without saying a damn word. She's not even lawyering up."

"She thinks she has the upper hand and isn't worried." Rossi said. "And she's right. Besides the little name in the diary and the fact that her name is Carter, we can't connect her with having involvement into the kidnapping of Penelope."

JJ looked at Rossi as if he was kidding. "You were there yesterday, Rossi. She was practically screaming her lungs out while taunting Penelope in front of all of us! If that's evidence enough, we should be good." The silence from everybody else felt way too eerie for her. "Right?"

"It's not enough to hold her for more than 72 hours." Spencer stated. "And you know that, JJ."

Walking into the conference room with a cup of fresh coffee in his hand, Stephen sighed out of frustration. It was his turn to try to break her but after two hours of nothing, he had to walk out for a break. "She's a stubborn one."

"I'll go in," JJ stood up from her seat. "Let me take Lewis's turn."

Tara halted her steps and turned her attention over to Emily, waiting for a confirmation on what to do. "It really doesn't matter to me."

Emily could tell that JJ's about to lose it. Which is ultimately confusing because she's kept it under control for so long. Maybe it's the fact that the team actually has something now, a valuable and most concrete evidence. "One hour." She didn't want to give JJ the two hours. "Tara goes in afterwards."

"Thanks." JJ walked out of the conference room and rushed her steps out of the bullpen and down the hallway where the interrogation rooms are. Stopping in front of the door that has Carter Williams inside, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

. . .

 **Thursday 8:20AM**

Penelope stared blankly at the ceiling, a thousand thoughts has been running through her mind nonstop since she woke up. The first thought was where is she? Waking up in a room that didn't have the smell of strong medicine or the sound of machines beeping had her in confusion for a few seconds. That's when she realized that the team probably moved her somewhere secluded and safe for now. She almost scoffed at the use of the words _for now_. The second thought came naturally. When will she ever be safe again? When will she stop worrying about her own safety and her friends?

She didn't want to move out of the bed, she doesn't want to move at all. Within a span of two days, she felt two different emotions of high and lows that she's officially tired. One day, she felt like her old self again. Lively, thrilled to type on the laptop, determined, stubborn and even a bit of her sass was back. The next day, everything falters and she's back to this depressing self. Overwhelmed with this fear that she had honestly believed she wouldn't ever feel again since getting shot back then. And sadly, even feeling tired of it all.

"Penelope..." Without taking her eyes away from the ceiling, she could tell it was Luke right away. His voice gave it away but the sounds of him maneuvering the wheelchair across the room also tipped her off. "Prentiss called," he hesitated a bit before continuing. "She's still not talking."

"She's not going to talk." Penelope said softly. "You saw her. She knows what she is doing. Coming to the hospital wasn't just her plan, he had to be aiding her with it." Blinking her eyes several times, her vision's starting to become blurry. "This case is a lost cause."

Luke furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't say that."

"Then what am I supposed to say?" Penelope snapped. "Or think? Feel?! How about you tell me? He has taken everything away from me. So if you want to take away my free thoughts, emotions and speech - go damn right ahead." After a few minutes of silence, she took a deep breath and cleared her throat. Realizing that she's screaming at the wrong person. "Sorry. I shouldn't be taking my frustrations out on you. I didn't mean to."

"No," Luke said. "It's alright." It wasn't like he didn't expect for something like this to happen when he came in here. She was too quiet in the room that he had to check up on her. "I know that it feels like the case is going nowhere right now but I think you have to remind yourself something."

"What is that?"

Luke shrugged his shoulders. "You have the best team on this case. The most hardworking and determined group of people who loves and cares for you so deeply. You've seen them, they're like walking zombies half the time." Luke briefly smiled. "But no matter how tired and stumped they are, they won't give up." He earnestly looked at Penelope, trying to make sure that she is staring at him so he could see if she is actually listening. "And you definitely shouldn't either."

Penelope couldn't believe it. He did it again. How does he always manage to do this? During her heaviest moment of emotions, he eases her mind within seconds. Feeling as if she should sit up on the bed as favor so he knows that she's not giving up, she sighed and leaned her head against the headboard. "How do you feel?" Everybody's been on their toes because of her. Since miraculously waking up from the coma, she doesn't think anyone had time to ask how Luke is feeling. "Does your torso still hurts?"

"Uh," Luke opened his mouth to tell a lie but feeling as if he should tell the truth since he wants her to. "A bit." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "I should change my bandages." He placed his hands onto the wheels and start moving toward the door when he heard Penelope speak.

"Let me do it." Penelope suggested to help. "I mean, if it's still hurting, wouldn't it hurt even more if you try to change the bandages yourself?"

Luke stared at her. "No. The nurse showed me how I should do it before I left the hospital. I'll be - "

"Newbie." Penelope said softly. "Let me do it."

Unknowingly, a small sincere smile spread across his face once he heard the word Newbie. He hasn't heard her calling him that nickname for so long that he almost forgot about it. "Alright." Luke cleared his throat as he exit out of the room. "Let me just get the new bandages."

. . .

 **Thursday 9:10AM**

JJ's eyes narrowed over to the clock on the wall. She only has thirty minutes left in the interrogation room before Tara comes in. There has to be a way to make this woman talk. For the last thirty minutes, no match how much questions was thrown at her, she only smiled or grinned every five minutes. As if she really knows that she will walk out of here freely. Tapping her fingers against the table, JJ was running out of options. She has played almost every single trick in the book. Talked about the family, her troubled past, the failures in school and work - every single trick that should work for a suspect.

With the help of a different tech analyst, the team managed to actually learn a bit about Carter Williams. Her life seemed as clean as white paper. That's only if you have somebody who doesn't do the proper digging. Beneath all what seems perfect, Carter's life has been nothing but a roller coaster. Her parents died when she was only three. Having to go through several foster homes throughout her life, she never had a secure home or reliable person to be around with. As soon as she graduated high school, she went MIA for a bit. Eventually, she got arrested for the first time when she was 21 years old, trying to steal some food in a secondhand store. And that can be considered as the start of the consistent arrests on her record. That's where the team becomes cold and literally stumped on the case. How did a young girl with small arrests like robbery for food end up getting arrested for identity fraud when she turned 26? At what point between those ages, did she meet Jacob?

Feeling as if time is ticking down with all the staring, JJ stood up from the chair. Pacing around the room, JJ inhaled and exhaled silently - trying to collect her thoughts. She's overthinking too much right now. _Luke_. Immediately, she thought of how Luke always seems as if he has the case on the palm of his hand. No matter how emotional and impatience the team was, Luke was the calm and collected one. He managed to find several important clues on his own. "Why?" This is probably the fifth time she had asked that question but JJ is going to get an answer right now. "Daisy." This time, she is going to ask about the original target differently. In a way where JJ is certain she'll get some answers and it'll be the answers she wants. "Was she prettier than you?" JJ narrowed her eyes at Carter. "Smarter? Richer? Or was it the fact that she probably had a better life than you?" Carter finally looked up from her hands, her eyes glaring at JJ. "Ah, that was it, wasn't it?" JJ has finally hit a nerve. "Now I don't have any information on this Daisy but with that one look in your eyes, I can see resentment." JJ shrugged her shoulders, leaning against her chair. "I mean, I totally get it. Your life wasn't easy. You feel as if the world owes you everything just because of a couple pain here and there."

Clenching her teeth in anger, Carter scoffed. "Couple pain?"

"And she speaks." JJ said.

"You probably don't know what pain feels like, Miss Blondie." Carter crossed her arms across her chest. "Pain lingers and stays on your mind no matter how much time has passed. A couple pain here and there? Let me tell you something about pain." She narrowed her eyes at JJ. "I made sure that bitch Daisy felt some pain before she died. The kind of pain she never got because she lived such a damn perfect life." She smirked with ease as she relax her shoulders. "She lived life with such ease and love with everybody around her. Arrest me if you want. But knowing that I was the first one to give her the first pain in life, I am satisfied."

"Arrest for murder? No." JJ said. "Accessory for murder? Maybe." JJ leaned toward Carter. "Pain? You're angry because someone didn't have their parents die when they were young? Or that their foster parents didn't violently hit them?" JJ briefly scoffed in annoyance. "Fine. I can say that's your own logical thinking. I may know nothing that involves Jacob or why you are so blindly following him but there is one thing I am certain about."

Carter laughed. "Yeah? And what's that?"

"As much pain as you went through, you don't have the guts to murder someone. You're just someone who is weak minded and easy to brainwash," JJ arched an eyebrow. "That's what he is using you for, I hope you know that. I mean, we're almost hitting eighteen hours with you in here and I don't see him one bit. Sure, maybe it's part of the plan." She shrugged her shoulders. "But think about it. Do you honestly believe that once you walk out of this room and building, he'll bring you back? He'll shower you with the needed love and care that you didn't get from your parents? No." JJ answered for her behalf. "He's a narcissistic asshole who doesn't care for anyone else but himself. Wait," she held up her hand. "Sorry. Maybe he does care for you or for even Daisy, at one point during his stalking days with her." She looked around the interrogation room. "But I don't see Daisy. If you say she's dead, think about it. Why is she dead?"

"Because she deserved it." Carter answered.

"Or is it because he was done with her and needed to kill her so he can start a new journey? A new journey to fulfill his own satisfaction and needs because he doesn't care for yours. Let me guess. Unless you do what he says, he doesn't show the kind of care or love that you're begging for. You love him but he doesn't. He goes around and send women flowers and notes indicating that he loves them but he is incapable of feeling." JJ sighed. "What do you think he is going to do? Hug you with open arms once you leave this room? Or close the door behind him and murder you without even a second thought like he did with the other nine bodies that we found." JJ looked at Carter, watching her eyes going left and right. "Ten. Make it ten if you're speaking the truth about Daisy."

Carter blinked her eyes as her hands fidget. "He does love me."

"As much as he loves Daisy? Penelope?" JJ questioned. "Do you get flowers? Little notes? Did he replicate your bedroom like your old one because he cares? The love that you saw him provide Daisy with, how long did it last? The stalking probably took a year, probably the year before you legally changed your name. Once the stalking is done, he takes actions. Kidnapping, brainwashing, demanding the love back but that's not what he wants. He doesn't need her love at all. It's the torment that gets him off. Watching Daisy shake in fear and worry about her own life, that's what he thinks at night before he sleeps because it has him smiling restfully." She placed her hands onto the table as she leaned forward. "So how long, Carter?" JJ made sure she was looking straight into her eyes. "How long did he 'love' Daisy until he killed her?" Deciding to push the button further, JJ went on. "How long is he going to 'love' Penelope until he's done with her? And aren't you worried about yourself?"

Silence went by and the clock was ticking down. Before JJ could get another word in, the sound of someone knocking on the double sided mirror was heard. The team has been listening in and now JJ's time is up. Carter watched as JJ stood up from her seat, looking dejected that she failed to get a process on the case. Carter looked away, not wanting to give in to those words. She closed her eyes as she heard the sound of the doorknob twisting and the door opening. "Wait."

JJ halted her steps, turning back around to face Carter. As she closed the door behind her, she darted her eyes over to the double sided mirror - knowing very well that the team is also surprised. "Go ahead."

"One year and six months." Carter said in a hushed voice. "He stalked Daisy for six months and that's where I came in. I acted as her friend to gain her trust. He needed me to take pictures of her house, the things she liked. I don't care if you say that he doesn't actually love them but what I saw, it looked like he did. He honestly believe that he can change them...into his version. In his ideal fantasy, a perfect woman is a woman who listens and only loves one man." She stopped talking which made JJ worry that Carter decided to not sure further. "He killed her." Carter took a deep breath as she cleared her throat. "After brainwashing her to love him, he was done."

"You obviously love him." JJ pointed out. "Why couldn't he stick with you? He doesn't need to do any of the brainwashing on women if he has you."  
Carter scoffed. "What do you think?"

JJ scanned at her up and down. It wasn't as if Carter wasn't a beautiful woman. That's when something in her head clicked. "Your hair. You're not blond." JJ nodded her head. "But you've dyed it before to gain his love and attention."

"Didn't work." Carter said.

JJ sat back down across from her, folding her hands on top of the table. "Do you know where he is? Or what's his full name? Is Jacob his real name?"

Carter looked at JJ. "You're right. It's part of the plan. He wanted me to be ploy and trick Penelope into being a friend. My part was to gain her trust like I did with Daisy. As soon as I did, he would swoop in and kidnap her again. That's it." She looked at JJ with such empty eyes. "I was a ploy. He didn't tell me what would happen afterwards. He didn't tell me if he would come and get if I got captured. He didn't tell me anything of where he would be. If he doesn't tell me things as simple as that, why would you think he would tell me his real name?" She adverted her gaze over to the double sided mirror. "He calls himself Jacob but I don't even know if that's the truth."

"You changed your legal name because you thought if your name has the name Daisy, he would love you." JJ said.

"He didn't." Carter replied. "He needs the perfect woman. I am not perfect enough for him."

JJ cleared her throat. "Carter, can you tell us something that you do know."

She stared at her hands for a few seconds before answering. "Daisy Rawlings." Carter looked up at JJ, her eyes glancing between her and the mirror. "Her name was Daisy Rawlings."

"Thank you." JJ sighed out of relief. "I will talk with the judge that you cooperated and maybe you will - "

"Don't." Carter interrupted. "I don't need to lessen my sentence. Just take me away." She watched as JJ nodded her head and started walking toward the door again. "I can tell you something else too."

JJ stopped. "What?"

"Where Daisy Rawlings's body is buried." Carter offered.

. . .

 **Thursday 9:46AM**

Luke winced in pain as Penelope applied some of the medicine onto his wounds. Trying to keep his expression in check, he took a small breath as he watched Penelope concentrate on the wounds. He can't help but notice the way her hair flows so softly and effortlessly against her face. His eyes slowly gaze her face - from the way her eyebrows are knitted together as she focused to how she was biting her lower lip. Luke's eyes widened as soon as the thought of her lips ran through his mind. God, he can't be thinking about that - definitely not in this situation. As Penelope open a new patch of medicine for the last three wounds, Luke thought of their conversation from yesterday. Surprisingly, Penelope confessing her feelings to him was the last thing he had expected. In the seven months, she has done nothing but teasingly taunt him with words and attitude. He never took those words to heart because he understood the pain of losing one member in the team and having some new guy just walk in.

For Penelope to sit there and confess her feelings, he didn't know how to exactly react. At first, he was speechless. Not because he didn't want her to feel that way toward him but because just a few hours before that confession, he had serious doubts that she would even like him. But what got him even more bewildered and speechless was the fact that Penelope didn't want him to worry. She didn't want him to think that she expect the feelings to be return and that it was a sure thing that they would never be more than anything with the exception of being friends? It was so shocking that he didn't get to have a word in when Rossi opened the door. Why would she think like that? Why would she honestly believe that he wouldn't have feelings for her? He didn't even know that he has feelings for her until he realized it yesterday himself. Not knowing and not believing it are two different things.

"Done." Penelope placed the medicine patch down and started unwrapping the plastic for the new bandages. "Sit up straight."

"Okay." Luke cleared his throat and sat up. "Thanks for doing this."

Penelope shrugged her shoulders. "It's not a problem. Might as well kill time. We have nothing else to do anyway." She crumpled the plastic up and glanced at the distance between herself and Luke. She needed to be closer in order to do this. With one swift move, she froze when her legs touched Luke's. Glancing up, they looked at each other for a few seconds - staring into each other's eyes. "Uhm..." Penelope smiled briefly as she leaned in closer, her arms going around his sides as she wrapped the bandages around his torso slowly and carefully. "Excuse me." As each time she wraps the bandage consistently around him, she has to inch her face closer to his.

Luke closed his eyes, he could feel his heart wanting to burst out of his chest. As of right now, he really wishes that he hasn't come to realization of his own feelings because it's getting really hard to control his emotions around Penelope. Each time her face is inching closer to his, all he wants to do is kiss her. As soon as he sensed Penelope was done, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Thanks."

"Did the nurse say how long you have to keep these bandages on until you wrap a new one?"

"Four days." Luke replied.

Penelope nodded her head as she cleaned the stuff off the bed. "I'll wrap them again once it's ready for another cleaning."

"Uh," Luke cleared his throat. "You don't have to."

"And you didn't have to be here with me and stay in the hospital." Penelope pointed out. "You just had surgery and literally woke up from a coma that was meant for your death." Throwing away the old bandages into the trash. "But you chose not to stay in the hospital because of me so this is the least thing I can do for you."

Even if he tries to argue with her, he knew it'll be nothing but a failure. Giving in, Luke simply nodded his head as he put his shirt back on. "Here. Let me get off the bed so you can rest." He started pulling his wheelchair over to the bedside when Penelope suddenly took the wheelchair away. "What?"

"No." Penelope said. "You've been sitting on that wheelchair since I woke up. You also need to lay down and rest." She walked over to the other side of the bed, settling down as she sighed. "The bed's big enough for us."

Luke didn't know what to say. She didn't even him time to think when she grabbed his arm, pulling him down so he could lay down next to her on the bed. "Just for an hour. You also need your rest."

Penelope stared at the ceiling again. "Do you think they got something out of her yet?"

"I don't know." Luke answered. "But they will even if it takes them a long time."

"She's just another victim, isn't she?" Penelope muttered under her breath. Since finding out about who Carter actually is, she couldn't help but think of what possibilities are they for Carter to be a second accomplice? She has been a part of the team for so long, she notices small facts or behavior. And all she can think about right now is the moment when she had asked her about the sexual assault. It wasn't the fact that she replied no to it but it was the way she had said it. As if she was disappointed that she receive that kind of attention from him. That's when she sensed something was off earlier.

Luke turned his head to look at her, their faces inches away again. As she stares at the ceiling, he couldn't look away from her beautiful face. "I don't know if she is a victim but I have a sense of feeling that she has been nothing but a ploy to him." The memory of how Carter spoke about him ran through his mind. "She's in love with him but she knows that she can't receive that kind of love back."

"Because he's incapable of love." Penelope said softly. Tearing her eyes away from the ceiling, she slightly turned her head and that's when her eyes widened. Not expecting Luke to be staring at her all this time, she was a little taken back at how close their faces are from each other now. "How can people be like that?" She didn't want to look away. With their eyes looking into each other, she continued talking. "How can people be so incapable of love? Opening your heart for certain people is one thing but completely closing the heart off because you're incapable of knowing or feeling how love is, how do people do that?"

He silently breathed in and out as he collected his thoughts to speak. Being this close to each other is making him slowly lose his mind. Not to mention at the fact that neither one of them is even trying to move away from each other. "Some people are just not lucky enough to come across someone who will open up their hearts with ease. There are times where people go through tough times and it's hard to say how some will handle the situations differently. Some choose to believe that a future somebody will be there for them and that waiting for the right time is all they have to do. While others believe that nothing can be done. They honestly believe that no one is out there for them other than being against them. So choosing to whether open or close their hearts, it all depends on what they choose to believe." Luke shrugged his shoulders as he lightly chuckled. "Or I could be wrong and those who are incapable to love are just a group of people who are stubborn and refuses to love, hollowing in their own loneliness."

Penelope couldn't help but lightly laugh along with him. They both know that people being incapable of love is a lot of things. They've worked on cases before with the same issue. But in this moment, it's as if neither of them could think or even say anything properly. "What do you believe? Waiting for the right time for the right someone? Or do you believe that nothing can be done? That no one is out there for you?"

Luke repeated her questions over and over in his head as he looked at her. Without even knowing, their bodies became closer to each other than before. "I think that there is a particular somebody for each person in the world. It just depends on if any of them would take actions. They can either sit back and wait for the right person to do something. Or lean in and - " he hesitated a bit as he slowly breathed. "...maybe do something about it."

"But what's your answer?" Penelope asked again since he really didn't answer the questions. She could barely breathe. As each second goes by, she could feel herself trying to inch closer to him. What are they doing? What in the world are they doing in the middle of all the chaos? Can this even happen? Does Luke even like her?

The tempting feeling is really hard to bear but Luke has to think about Penelope and her emotions. What she went through is still raw and tough. He can't just be this close to her on a bed without considering her feelings. Immediately, Luke looked away from Penelope and sat up on the bed. "Let me get you some breakfast from the kitchen." He slowly adjusted himself carefully into the wheelchair and moved out of the room and into the kitchen.

Penelope blinked her eyes several times in lost thought. _Of course_ , she thought in her head. He would've never liked her. What was she thinking? Turning her attention back over to the ceiling, she closed her eyes to take a quick nap before he comes back with breakfast.

. . .

Thursday 10:40AM

"Tell me everything you know." Emily ordered as she sat down in the conference room. The team had just finished collecting their information on Daisy Rawlings. With Spencer, Stephen and Rossi with her - she started a brief meeting while the others went to where the body is buried.

Tara took the remote from the table and pressed a button. A picture of a young blond woman showed up on the screen. "Daisy Rawlings was 32 years old. Clean as a bill. She went to school with decent grades and graduated top of her class in college."

"For?"

Spencer looked up from his own files. "Photography."

Rossi nodded his head. "It's a pattern. Daisy is an ace in her own field of photography and he became a photographer afterwards also." He looked at Emily. "Just like he did with the hacking like Penelope."

"So he's smart," Emily said. "We already know that."

"Daisy was a photography at Hills Photography over in the next city. Probably where she met Jacob and that's where the stalking started." Spencer said.

Emily narrowed her eyes at the picture of Daisy on the screen. "Anything about her that stands out? There has be something that she and Penelope share in common for them to be picked by him."

"Top of her field." Tara said. "Penelope's top in her own field too."

"Kidnapping and forcing them to love him so he can murder them over someone like being top of their workplace?" Emily asked herself. "There has to be something else."

"They're both blond." Rossi said. "Not enough to hold down as a common point for victimology.

Spencer sighed. "Blond and top of their workplace. Do we know if Daisy and Garcia crossed paths?"

"That's impossible. Unless either of them frequents each other's cities during their free time, it's highly unlikely for them to cross paths."

"What about - " Emily stopped talking when her phone vibrated. "It's them." Putting the phone on speaker, she leaned toward it. "Tell me you found the body."

. . .

 **Thursday 10:47AM**

Taking off her sunglasses as she held the phone in her hand, she watched as the forensic team jump into the hole. Slowly and carefully, they started dusting the dirt away and within seconds, a skeleton was staring back at her. "We found the body." JJ confirmed through the phone call.

Stephen made his way over to JJ and the forensic team, his eyes bloodshot and his tone certainly not thrilled like the others at the fact that Daisy's body has been found. "We have problem."

JJ turned over to him, confusion written all over his face. "What is it?" She put the phone on speaker so the others can speak if they want to. "Walker just said there's a problem."

"There's another body." Stephen notified the team. "About a mile out from this area and it's definitely done by him too."

"How do you know?" Spencer's voice was heard through the phone.

Stephen's face turned regretful. "Because we know the victim."

. . .

 **Thursday 11:00AM**

"I'm not crazy, right?" Penelope asked.

Luke looked up from his book and furrowed his eyebrows together. "Crazy? What do you mean?"

"What happened earlier," Penelope said slowly. "It wasn't just me, right?" She promised herself that she wouldn't press further on the issue but it's the only thing she has been thinking about for the last twenty minutes. "You were about - " she stopped herself. "I was going..." she stopped talking again. This time, she shook her head, admitting defeat this time. "Never mind. I'm sorry. I just thought that maybe there was this tiny chance that you..."

"That I..." Luke placed the book down. "What?"

"I'm going to take a nap."

"You just woke up from a nap." Luke pointed out.

Penelope shrugged her shoulders. "I'll take another. Never hurts to sleep."

Luke could sense something was wrong. He pushed the wheelchair over to the other bedside and got on the bed. "Penelope..."

"Hm?" She blinked her eyes twice, looking at him but not directly at the eyes.

"I just..." How is Luke supposed to explain this? She said the words _I like you_ so easily yesterday that it makes him feel almost foolish to be sitting here like this, struggling with his own words of _I like you_. He didn't want her to believe that he doesn't. Personally, he wants her to know that he actually does like her. And the only reason why he pulled away from trying to kiss her was because he doesn't know if she's ready or not. The level of comfortableness has to be tremendously big and with what she went through, it's hard to not think that it'll only hurt her feelings. And that's the last thing he wants to do, to hurt her feelings.

Penelope looked at him, waiting for him to say something. His words from earlier rang through her head repeatedly. _They can either sit back and wait for the right person to do something_. She's going to wait for him. Until he is positive enough with his own feelings and knows what he actually wants to do, she is going to wait with whatever decision he makes. She silently nodded her head to herself, that's exactly what she is going to do. Wait for him to - "Screw this." she muttered to herself before leaning forward, placing her lips lightly onto his. Penelope pulled away, letting the silence take over.

Luke had to blink several times to understand what had just happened. It was a light small kiss. Before he could hide his expression, a smile plastered across his face. Without a moment of hesitation this time, he moved in closer to her. Placing his hand softly on her face, he kissed her softly on the lips. Once he felt her kissing him back, he returned with an even bigger kiss eagerly.

The phone rang. Penelope cleared her throat as she pulled away, smiling as she reached over for the phone. "It's JJ." She answered the phone. "Hey." Her smile faltered in seconds as she listened to JJ's words. "Wait, slow down and speak slowly."

His expression changed as soon as saw Penelope's face. "What happened?"

Her eyes widened. It was like her heart fell onto the ground. As soon as JJ hung up, Penelope let the phone drop onto the bed. She glanced at Luke, her eyes watered as she can only imagine the upcoming pain and suffering that's about to happen. "They found Daisy's body. The real one."

"That's good." Luke smiled. "We can look and find if there is any - "

"Luke..." Penelope interrupted him softly. Her voice started to shake as her body trembled. "They also found another body."

Luke nodded his head. "Just one? He usually kills a whole family." And that's when his ears and body went numb as soon as he heard Penelope's next words and the name of the victim they had just found. Visually, he could see Penelope speaking but no sound was coming out. Speechless and soundless, the only thing he felt was the sharp _pang_ in his head at the sudden news that erupted in his life.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Thursday 11:50AM**

"We have the identification card," one of the members in the forensic team informed Emily as soon as he noticed the BAU walking over to the crime scene. "Do you want it?"

Emily shook her head as she ducked her head under the yellow crime scene tape. "There's no need for it. We know who the victim is." Her expression is an exact replica as the others, sullen and deeply disturbed of what's in front of them. "Where's the body?"

Derek stepped aside and nodded his head over to the paved deep dirt path with the forensic team hovering over the body. "He's not being shy about the bodies anymore." The fact that the bodies were hidden for the first ten times and this one clearly isn't, the whole team already knows what kind of tactic the guy's trying to pull off. "He's messing with us."

"Us?" JJ repeated. "Or just Luke at this point." She closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. "This son of a bitch knew that we would be here. He knew that Carter would eventually lead us to Daisy's body. Everything's happening according to his damn plan."

Rossi sighed. "And we're just lost puppies, following each and every step he's making instead of trying to be ahead of him." The sound of tires screeching and blaring loud sirens distracted everybody's attention onto the road, he briefly turned around. "He's here."

"Where is she?" Luke softly muttered under his breath. He stepped out of the SUV, his eyes darting back and forth between the forensic team and the members. Vividly shaking his head as he paced himself in front of the crime scene tape, he didn't want to believe any of this. None of this can be true, he thought. "Where is she?" He repeated to himself, a bit louder for the others to hear him.

"You shouldn't be on your feet yet." Tara said as soon as she noticed that he wasn't on the wheelchair.

Not wanting to repeat himself, Luke stepped under the crime scene tape. "Move." He ordered as soon as the team stepped in, blocking him from the crime scene. "I said, move!"

"Please," JJ begged. "You shouldn't be here for this."

Luke didn't have time to deal with this. He has dealt with their uncontrollably emotions for the last month. If they know better, they shouldn't be doing this toward him right now. "I am not going to repeat myself," he warned in a firm tone. "Either you move or I'll make you move." He watched as the others glanced over to Emily, who nodded her head, giving them permission to step aside. As soon as he stood in front of the crime scene, he could feel his heart halting it's beat for a split second. Dropping onto his knees with tears streaming down his face, he clenched onto his heart as he screamed out loud. "Abuela!"

Penelope got off the car, her eyes darting between the members and Luke on the ground. Feeling overwhelmed by what's going on, Penelope raised her hand to her heart as she cried. "This can't be happening..." Not wanting to be around the scene any longer, she turned around to get back into the car when the members suddenly gasped, calling out Luke's name. Adverting her attention over to him, who's laying on the ground unconscious - Penelope rushed to his side. "Luke!"

. . .

 **Thursday 1:00PM**

"Penelope, you don't have to stay here." Derek said softly as he sat down next to her. "You should be with him."

"He doesn't want to see me." Penelope simply replied, her eyes staring at the picture of Bernice Alvez on the victimology board. In fact, her eyes has been staring at the eleven photos on the board for the last ten minutes she's been sitting in the conference room. These eleven photos are victims, people who had lives. And every single one of them are dead because of her. "How many more do you think there are?"

Derek blinked. "What?"

"How many more bodies does he have hidden? Under the dirt? Inside the closets? Locked up in a cellar?"

"Baby Girl, you can't think like that." Derek tried to hold her hands but she snatched her hands back. "Penelope..."

Penelope looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "Bernice is dead because of me. Luke's one and only family member by his side is dead. How can look at him without having this...this guilt inside of me?!"

"Luke knows that none of this is your fault." Derek turned her chair around to face him, his hands gripping onto the armrest as he spoke. "Out of everybody in the team, Luke has always been the reasonable one. He's smart, logical and incredibly strong."

"That's before his grandmother died." Penelope said those words in a matter-of-fact tone. "All that self control he's been holding onto, it's all gone now."

Before Derek could open his mouth to argue with her, Emily and the rest of the team walked into the conference room. "Is everything all set?"

As soon as everybody settled into their seats, she couldn't help but glance at Penelope. She shouldn't even be in here right now but what could she argue about? The team is physically exhausted and mentally frozen at the moment but the pain that Luke and Penelope are feeling, they can never be compared to how those two feel. "Let's begin." Emily ordered.

JJ briefly glanced at Penelope as she pointed over to the picture of Luke's grandmother. "Bernice Alvez, 79 years old. She had no criminal record and spent most of her time in either her local church and work."

"Where did she work?"

"A local market," JJ answered. "If we look at the timeline, Bernice Alvez left the hospital around 11:45AM on Wednesday." She nodded her head over to Spencer. "The last person she spoke to in the hospital before she left was Spence."

Spencer stared at the picture of Bernice in his case file. "She told me to watch over Luke because she was late for work. She said she would be back on Friday to visit him again." He looked at the others. "We left a voicemail once we transferred Luke and Penelope to the hotel after Daisy got arrested."

"And she didn't answer or reply." Tara noted. "What time did you leave the voicemail?"

"4:27," Spencer quickly answered. "I called her twice before I left the voicemail. I just assumed that she was busy with work and didn't pick up."

Rossi tapped his fingers against the table. "Between 11:45AM and 4:30PM, Bernice Alvez got kidnapped by him." He looked at Emily. "Do we have the time of death yet?"

Emily adjusted her eyes from the picture of Bernice and toward Rossi. "No," she cleared her throat as she looked at Penelope. "Luke's with the medical examiner as we speak."

. . .

 **Thursday 1:20PM**

The medical examiner watched Luke carefully. He has been in here for the last thirty minutes, not wanting to leave until he knows how and when his grandmother died. Knowing how painful and heartbreaking it is to lose a family member this way, the medical examiner didn't want to push Luke's buttons by asking him to leave. Instead, she let Luke watch as he examined Bernice Alvez. As soon as she was done and input her data and founding into the system, she turned his full attention to Luke. "Are you positive you're up for this?"

Luke slowly nodded his head, his hands clenching onto each other as he stared blankly at his grandmother's pale face. He opened his mouth to ask a question but his words got choked up, tears running down his face nonstop. "How..."

"Asphyxiation..." She slightly revealed Bernice's neck to show where the mark was indicated. " "Seems to me that a rope was probably used during the altercation.."

"Altercation?" Luke repeated in confusion.

The medical examiner sadly smiled. "She didn't go without a fight." Lifting her arms and legs so he could see the bruises and marks, she sighed. "For someone her age, she lasted really long with this kind of torture."

Burn marks. Luke felt his anger rising even more as he blinked a few tears away. "What time?"

"Roughly twelve hours," she lifted a page from her chart. "With my best estimate, she died yesterday around 9PM." The medical examiner cleared her throat. "I hope you find this guy." Luke's mind is so blank, he didn't have the energy to reply to her. "I'll leave you alone with her before I come back so you can sign off the paperwork."

As soon as he heard the doors closing, Luke reached for his grandmother's hands and for the first time, her hands aren't what he remembers and knows how they should be. Since he was a kid, warmth and soft were what he always felt when he held her hands. Now, here in a morgue room, these beautiful hands that used to make him dinner and comb his hair are freezing cold and rough instead. "Abuela..." not able to control his tears any longer, the tears stream down his face as he lightly caress her face. "Why..." He shook his head as he coughed. "You're not supposed to be in here. Why are you here?" Clenching onto her hands, not wanting to ever let go of them. "I never gave you permission to leave me," Luke could feel a sharp pain in his heart as he cry. "You're supposed to watch me get married, hold your great grandchild, you're supposed to do so much great things in your life." Not hearing a response from his beloved witty grandmother, it makes it even harder to deal with this death.

If she was alive, she would make a witty comment about how is he supposed to marry a woman if he never notices anything around him besides work? She would joke and say that she wants more than four great grandchildren, running around her home. And she would definitely name the places she wants to visit once she retires from the market.

 _Ninito_. Luke snapped his eyes open as soon as he heard a familiar word. He glanced around the morgue room. _Ninito_. With his hands clenching onto her hands still, his heart and mind still refusing to believe the fact that his grandmother is lying in front of him on a cold, metal table. _Ninito_. It's when he realized that he wasn't hearing the word from inside the room but he's remembering something from the past.

 **Three Months Ago**

"Abuela..." Luke sighed out loud as soon as he saw the packed food on his kitchen counter. "I won't have time to eat this at home. I'm always gone half the time." He kneeled on the ground, his smile brightening as he kissed Roxy. "Abuela!"

Bernice stepped out of the bathroom, taking the cleaning gloves off as she shook her head. "This is why a man can't live on his own. Your bathroom was horrendous."

Luke chuckled. "I just didn't have time to clean it." He made his way over to her, kissing her on the cheek. "You have to take some of this back home."

"Nonsense!" Bernice said as she opened his fridge, putting in the packed food in there. "They won't expire. Take your time and eat it."

"Abuela..." He knew it was useless to try and argue with her but it never hurts to keep trying. "How am I suppose to finish all of that?"

Bernice closed the fridge and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe if you had a girlfriend, she could share the food with her family. You know, add those perk points up."

Here goes the conversation again. Luke distracted himself as he pet Roxy on the head. "I don't have time for that."

"Oh?" Bernice arched an eyebrow, clearing thinking otherwise. "You seem to be talking about - " she snapped her fingers, trying to force herself to remember the name. "Penelope Garcia a lot lately. Are you sure?"

Luke laughed. "She would never like me."

"Do you?" Bernice questioned. As soon as she saw the confusion written all over his face, she automatically knew it's the curse again. The curse of never being able to detect if someone actually likes him or not. She shook her head, unable to believe that such a horrible curse like his would carry out to his mid thirties. "What are you? Stone? How do you still not know how to detect feelings? Not even your own?"

"I'm hurt," Luke pretended as he placed a hand over his heart. "Stone? I'm as fleshy as I can get!"

"Ninito," Bernice said in a more serious tone. "When do you think you'll let me hold my great grandbaby?"

Luke closed his eyes briefly from the word _ninito_ again. "Abuela, I'm not a little child anymore." He opened his eyes and stared at his lovely grandmother. "You will hold your great grandbaby, I promise. One day."

"One day?" Bernice made a _tsking_ sound with her mouth. "How long do you think your abuela is going to live? Do you think I'll outlive you, silly? Not a ninito anymore?" She looked at him with such disappointment. "You will forever be my ninito no matter how much you hate that word."

Knowing very well that she'll be angry in a few seconds if he doesn't do anything, Luke got up and wrapped his arms around her gently. Giving her a light kiss on the cheek, he sighed. "You will definitely outlive me. As long as I am here, nothing will ever happen to you. Who am I? Bernice Alvez's grandson! And as much as I dislike the word, I will remain as your ninito." He turned and gave her a smile. "As long as you stay as my abuela, always by my side no matter what. Don't ever leave me and I won't ever leave you. If you do, I can't promise a great grandchild for you."

Bernice lightly laughed as she nodded her head. "I promise. I will always be your abuela." She patted his hands, proud of how she raised him on her own. "Will you keep your other promise? Nothing will ever happen to me?"

Luke smiled. "As long as I am here, I won't ever let anything happen to you."

 **Present**

The medical examiner walked into the room with the documents in her hands. She lifted her eyes away from the charts as the door closed behind her. "Agent Alvez, once you're ready to - " she stopped talking as soon as she saw his unconscious body on the ground. "Agent Alvez!"

. . .

 **Thursday 3:00PM**

Derek leaned his back against the wall, his eyebrows furrowed and his arms crossed onto his chest. "He's never going to be okay." He glanced over to Spencer, who's staying in the waiting room with him while the others stay back in the BAU. "He won't be the same."

"He will be," Spencer said as he skimmed through a book. "Just like how we end up being okay after the pain we went through." He looked up and stared at Derek. "You know as much as anyone that our team went through hell. Most of us has lost so many people while on this job." Spencer turned his attention back to the book. "If there is one thing we have in common, we always end up bouncing back to the job. Why? Because it's the only thing we can live by now. It makes us strong and determined."

"We had each other," Derek reasoned with Spencer. "In seven months time, has Luke told you anything about his own life? He has learned so much of the team but as far as I know, none of you know much about him." He sighed. "Luke technically doesn't trust us enough to share his life with us. If we don't know how this man feels or thinks half the time, how are we suppose to be there for him like how we were for each other?"

Spencer closed the book. "He has Garcia."

"Penelope isn't all there either," Derek argued. "This case has been rough on us but not as much as for the both of them. Do you honestly believe that these two will rely on each other even after what happened today?" The look in Penelope's eyes in the conference room, he can't forget it. The pain in her eyes when she said that Luke didn't want to see her, it was heartbreaking. Derek comforted Penelope by saying that Luke would never try and blame Bernice's death. How is he supposed to ask her to believe in those words when he doesn't even believe it himself? "Maybe I'm being a pessimistic."

"I don't believe in that." Spencer said calmly. "There is no such thing as pessimistic and optimism. You can't carry on the world believing - "

"Of course," Derek interrupted him before he went on a long lecture. "You would be the one to not believe in such thing." His eyes adverted over to the doctor leaving Luke's hospital room. "How is he?"

The doctor sighed as he closed the chart in his hand, looking at Derek and Spencer carefully. In the last few weeks, he has seen these people more than he would like. No doctor would ever want to see a patient or family members of the patients for more than every six months. He can't even imagine the amount of pain and exhaustion this team is going through right now. "He'll be fine as soon as his body regains strength from food. Luke hasn't eaten or drank anything in the last few hours, has he?" Seeing as there was no reply from both men, he continued. "His wounds are tearing a bit from the stitches. After he wakes up, a nurse will help him stitch them up again. From what I can understand, I know he is suffering from a loss right now but I do not want him to overwork himself. Please remember that he barely got out of surgery and woke up from a coma miraculously." He cleared his throat, knowing it's very hard for someone with their sort of field to hear such words. "His emotions will play a huge part on how fast he'll heal internally and externally. As much as I love doing my job, it's really upsetting to see the same person back here within a few days after being discharged. Considering Luke Alvez's case, he wasn't even supposed to be out of the hospital in the first place."

"What are you trying to say?" Derek asked.

"Until he gets the approval by me, he won't be leaving this hospital. I don't want to risk anything anymore." The doctor nodded his head over to the waiting room. "You might want to start working the guard schedule once again."

"We understand, thank you." Spencer said before the doctor left. "I'll call Prentiss."

Derek sighed. "Call Tara afterwards before she heads out to lecture tonight. She can meet up with the medical examiner about Daisy's autopsy results. We need that information as soon as possible."

. . .

 **Thursday 5:00PM**

Luke softly smiled at the nurse as soon as she finished stitching him. "Thank you." He adverted his attention over to the tray in front of him. "I don't really feel like eating."

The nurse sighed. "I understand but the doctor said that I'm not allowed to take the tray away until it's clean." She slid the tray closer to him, making sure that he can reach it. "It doesn't hurt to eat, right?"

Not wanting to argue with her, Luke just nodded his head as he leaned against the hospital headboard. "I'll eat it."

"Promise?"

"Yes." Luke lied. "I'll eat it." The nurse left him alone in the room as soon as she cleaned after the old bandages. He blinked calmly at the tray of food which contained chicken soup, bread, salad and juice. Why is it that he has no motivation to eat this right now? As he stares at the bland food, all he can think about is his grandmother's cooking. The delicious, addicting smell of her cooking that spread out throughout his house in the air. The soft texture of each dish that she passionately cooked for him. Feeling tired, Luke laid back down on the bed and stared aimlessly at the wall in front of him. He could hear the sound of the door opening and closing. "I'm not hungry. Just take it away. I'm sorry."

Spencer looked at the food. "Why aren't you hungry?"

"I just am."

"Is there anything we can get for you?"

Luke shook his head. "Nothing." He closed his eyes, it feels good to have his eyes closed. His eyes are so red and puffy from the crying, the energy to keep them open is exhausting. "It's nothing like her cooking..."

"Huh?" Spencer asked. "What did you say?" He stood in the middle of the room, listening to the sounds of Luke's snoring quietly. As soon as it was safe, he walked over to the drawers - taking out the jeans that Luke was wearing earlier, searching for something quickly. Clenching onto what he took, he walked out of the room. Making his way to the waiting room, he handed a pair of keys to Penelope. "Here. Why do you need his keys?"

Penelope briefly smiled before she took the keys. "I think I can help with something." She turned her attention to Derek. "Do you mind if you take me to his house? You've been there before, right? When you brought Roxy to cheer me up?"

Derek nodded his head. "Yeah." Penelope had arrived an hour ago, much to Derek's disapproval. The team had argued that it's better if Penelope stayed inside the BAU but she wanted to be nearby Luke so badly that no one saw a point in trying to win the argument with her. "Let me take you then."

. . .

 **Thursday 6:20PM**

Luke could feel he was drifting away from a calm sleep into another dream. He didn't want to remember the past, especially not right now. He wanted to pull himself out of this sleep but no matter how hard he tried, the dream's strength ended being too strong. In a matter of seconds, his mind flashes back to a memory in his sleep.

"Come on," Luke chuckled as he lightly pulled on the leash as he unlocked the door. "Roxy! Good girl." He opened the door and kissed Roxy on the head before he sniffed his house. "Abuela? Is that you?"

"Kitchen!"

Luke took the leash out of Roxy's collar and smiled as soon as he realized the source of the smell. "Mhmmm, my favorite."

Bernice smiled. "Of course." She stirred the pot as she lowered the heat a bit. "I knew you wouldn't be making your own dinner on a Sunday. Thought I should stop by anyway since I haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been busy lately." Luke took a paper towel and wiped the sweat from his face. "I was going to visit you next week."

"Why would you visit me? I should visit you instead. That's why I'm here." Bernice turned off the heat and quickly poured the beans into a bowl. "Who else would make you food?"

"No one." Luke answered immediately. "I finished the packed boxes that you put in the fridge a couple weeks ago. The team loves your cooking."

Bernice placed a plate in front of him. "Here."

"Rice with pork and beans." Luke took his grandmother's hand, kissing the top of it. "As always, Bernice Alvez lives up to her reputation."  
She smiled proudly before turning around to grab him a drink. "Of course. I taught your mother how to cook when she was young. If she was alive, she would've made you the best - " she stopped talking as soon as she saw his expression. He always has such a sullen expression once the topic of his parents comes up. "Ninito."

Luke cleared his throat as he mixed the food together. He isn't a fan of talking about his parent's death and she knows it. The idea of talking about the day where you were meant to die with your parents but became the only survivor, it hurts. Till this day, he wonders if he should've passed away with them that night. "The beans are different this time. Changing the recipe, are you? I liked the other beans better."

Bernice sighed as she placed the glass of water in front of him. He's trying to change the topic again. If there are 365 days in a year, only one day he is willing to talk about his parents. "The death anniversary is coming up soon, Luke."

"Abuela," Luke quietly muttered. He knew that within four months, the day that he can still remember every day of his life is coming up soon. "Please."

"Rice with pork and beans was your mom's favorite." Bernice said with a small smile. "When she was little, she used to jump up and down over it. Made my day every single time I made it for her."

Luke closed his eyes, dropping his utensils onto the kitchen counter. "Mom's dead."

"How is it that you work perfectly fine with talking to victim's families everyday but you have such a hard time talking about your own?" Bernice can't understand this part of him. When he was training as a cop, he spent hours talking about the families he came across. Yet when it comes to his own family, he built such a strong wall around his heart.

"What do you want me to say? Watching my own parents die as they drowned in their own blood was traumatizing? Being stuck between the backseat and the seatbelt when you're a child is a horrendous memory? The fact that no matter how hard I screamed for help, pounding my little fists against the windows as my parents look back at me, giving me one last smile before they both died at the same time?" Luke controlled his breathing as he stared at his grandmother. "I don't want to think like that. I refuse to remember a memory that I want to block out so bad."

Bernice nodded her head as she gave up. Turning on the sink so she could wash the kitchen appliances that she used, she briefly smiled. "Alright."

Luke didn't want her feelings to be hurt. "You know that I don't like talking about it."

"I understand, I'm not mad."

Choosing to give in a bit this time around, Luke cleared his throat as he took a quick bite of the food. "Maybe I got it from her, didn't I?" He could tell she was confused when he spoke about his mom again. "The rice with pork and beans." He doesn't think about his mom a lot. A part of it is because he doesn't have much memories with his parents. With such limited memories, it hurts more to know that they're not here with him to make more memories. "Does my taste fit more with mom or dad more?"

Bernice smiled. "You fit your mom's more. The way you eat is like your dad. My son-in-law was a great person to eat dinner with. When you watched him eat, it just makes you happy." She held onto Luke's hand, patting it lightly. "Exactly how you make me feel when I watch you eat my food."

Luke chuckled. "Well, nothing can ever compare to your food."

His eyes slowly opened as soon as he smelled a familiar aroma. He's not dreaming anymore, is he? No. The room's plain and beige, the color of the hospital. Luke blinked his eyes several times, wondering if he should get up or not. He must be going crazy if he is starting to smell his grandmother's cooking right now.

"You're up."

His eyes widened. "Penelope?"

"Hey..."

Sitting up on the hospital bed, he watched in confusion while she opened up lids from containers with hot air coming out of it. That's when the smell hit him, the same kind of smell that he misses the most right now. His grandmother's cooking. "How did you..." Luke looked at Penelope, not understanding how she would know about the packed boxes in his fridge. "Are these from..."

Penelope nodded her head as she cleaned the hospital food tray away and slid the food that she brought closer to him. "I went inside your house, I hope you didn't mind. The packed boxes were in there and I microwaved it before bringing it over. I just assumed that you wouldn't be able to eat with what you're going through right now. That's when I remembered how I was when my parents died." She briefly smiled as she shrugged her shoulders. "I started missing their cooking really bad. I would cry for days as I thought about my mom's food."

"How did you know about these?" He stared at the three packed boxes, the last food in the world that Bernice Alvez has cooked for him. Luke doesn't even know if he wants to eat the food. What happens after he eats it? It'll be gone and he won't be able to taste her cooking any longer.

"She told me about it." Penelope said. "The day she left..." She didn't want to say the day before she got kidnapped. By looking at how Luke was staring at her, she knew he would understand what she meant. "She wanted us to remind you that she placed a few more food in your fridge."

Luke couldn't help but chuckle. "She would do that." As he brought one of the containers closer to him, the smell of the pork and beans hit him almost too strongly. "It's definitely her cooking..."

Penelope could tell that he wanted to cry but he was holding them back. "I also brought her but she fell asleep while waiting for you to wake up."

"Roxy..." Luke smiled at the sight of his baby sleeping on the couch. He adverted his attention over to Penelope. "You didn't have to do all of this."

"I wanted to." Penelope answered as she sat down. "You've been there for me through my toughest time. It's only right for me to do the same for you."

"It's not your fault, you know." Luke knew that Penelope must be going crazy on the inside. She would be blaming Bernice's death on herself and she shouldn't. "I don't blame you."

Penelope didn't understand him. "Why? She's...gone because of me."

Luke shook his head. "No. She's dead because of him. There is a clear difference between you and him, isn't there?"

"Luke..."

"Penelope," Luke warned softly. "I am not going to spend another twenty minutes trying to convince you that none of this is your fault. The moment you open your mouth and try to debunk the truth, I won't talk to you anymore." He glanced at the food, poking it a few times with the fork. "Come here."

"What?"

"Try some." Luke said.

She shook her head. "You should eat it. The doctor said that you should eat to regain your strength." Luke started groaning in pain when he tried to lift his arm. "Let me help you." Penelope walked over to him, taking a spoonful of the food. "Here."

Luke stared at the spoon in front of his face, glancing between Penelope and the spoon. He wanted to open his mouth to eat it but the emotions are starting to hit him again. This time, he didn't want to hold back the tears in front of somebody. For once, he wants to cry in front of someone that he could rely on. "Penelope..."

She blinked and quickly understood the situation. Dropping the spoon back into the container, she opened her arms and pulled him into an embrace. "Everything will be okay, Luke."

"Will it?"

"I don't know." Penelope said honestly. "I don't know when it'll actually be okay but one day, it will be. For a couple of weeks, you'll wake up and start wondering why you're the only alive. If you should just follow along with the rest of your family. Sometimes when you eat, you start randomly missing their food. Regret comes in because right after as soon as you realize that you should've eaten their food more often." Penelope sighed as she closed her eyes. "Then it'll get better as time passes by. You'll stop waking up with puffy eyes. Once the time arrives, you'll be able to wake up without crying. You'll smile more than you had before." She thought back to her own parents and immediate family who are gone. "The pain of being alone in the world will only last for a few weeks." She pulled away from the embrace as she wiped his tears away. "Because you have people here who cares for you and will try their best to help you feel better."

. . .

 **Thursday 7:10PM**

Tara walked into the lecture hall with a brief smile on her face. "Sorry for being late." She scanned the amount of students in the hall. Being completely new with this part of her regular lecture, she doesn't know how to exactly feel. She's more used to sitting across a murderer so she can interview them than standing in front of twenty students about a lecture. "Let me go through the attendance." Picking up the chart, she started calling out the name one by one, waiting for a response from the student. Her finger froze at one certain name that stood out. Glancing her attention to the seats, she called out the name - waiting to see who will raise their hand. "Jacob." It's only the first name, what could the odds be? Thinking back to the sketch that Penelope had agreed to giving last week, It can't possibly be true.

"Here."

Her eyes skimmed through the rows and landed on Jacob raising his arm. "What's your last name, Jacob?" An exact match to the sketch photo of him. "What are you doing here?"

"Jacob Franklin."

"Why don't you stand up and follow me, Mr. Franklin?" Tara switched to agent mode immediately.

He stood up from his seat with a smirk. "Here's a riddle for you." As he spoke, he slowly paced himself down the steps in the hall before he stood in front of Tara. "If roses are red and violets are blue, I wonder what the BAU's color will soon be?"

Tara narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that a threat?"

"No. Just a riddle." Jacob grinned as he held his wrists in front of her. "Take me away, Agent."

With no moment of hesitation, she handcuffed immediately. "Lecture is dismissed tonight, students."

As he was being dragged away from the room, Jacob sighed. "Take me to Penelope. I want to talk to her."

"I don't think so. You won't ever get to speak to her again." Something's wrong. It's too easy to catch him like this. Why would he risk his life and be in a lecture hall that would make him stand out?

"Really?" Jacob smiled as they stepped in front of the car. "I would like to think that either Penelope or Luke Alvez would speak to me once they find out." He shook his head. "Such a shame."

Tara looked at him. "Why would it be a shame?"

"Just thought the BAU would like to know where the other bodies are."

"What other bodies?!" Tara demanded to know.

Jacob just smiled with ease. "Penelope Garcia. I want to talk to her. Alone."


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Thursday 8:00PM**

Penelope stood in the alternate room alone with her arms crossed on her chest. She has been staring at Jacob Franklin for the last five minutes. When Tara called Emily informing her that she is bringing in the Jacob into the BAU, Penelope thought it was a lie. It wasn't until the team instructed her to go inside the room so she could look at him through a secure double sided mirror that she gave them the confirmation it's him. There is no doubt in her mind that it's definitely him.

He's six foot tall man with a slender but muscular body. When Penelope spent those days with him, he had light brown hair that was always to the side. Now, he has a buzz cut, assuming that he cut his hair because of the sketch that she gave. Even with the haircut, Penelope still recognizes him. How could she ever forget the man that kidnapped her? He has given her so much pain, his face is cemented in her mind all the time.

As she stands here, watching how Jacob is interacting by himself in the interrogation through the double sided mirror - it was the one question that repeated in her head constantly. Why would he risk everything just to be caught in Tara's lecture class? Why would he do this? This is the man that has perfectly hid ten dead bodies. This is the man that has always been five steps ahead of the top notch BAU team. Why? Why throw everything away for just one conversation with her?

The door opened with Derek and Spencer walking in, coffee in their hands. "Baby girl..."

Penelope slightly turned her head toward Derek, taking the coffee that he brought for her. "Thanks."

"At least we have him," Derek tried to reassure her. "That's what matters."

"It's too easy." Spencer said as he took a sip of his coffee. "What if this is according to his plan? Everything that has been happening followed through with his detailed plan." He looked at them. "It's a little uneasy for someone like him, a complete narcissistic to just give himself up like this."

Penelope nodded her head in agreement. "Has he given the location of the bodies?"

"No." Derek answered. "Tara thinks he's lying. He needed a reason for her bring him over to us. She believes there's no other bodies."

The pictures of the poor ten victims that are dead because of ran through her head. "I don't think he's lying."

"How do you know?" Spencer asked.

"Because as bad as he is, if there is one thing about him that I know from the few days with him." Penelope took a long sip of her coffee before placing it down on the table next to her. "He never lies."

"Where do you think you're going?" Derek asked.

Penelope looked at them as if they don't know. "I'm going to talk to him."

"No," Derek immediately said before he made his way to her, his hand holding onto the doorknob to prevent her from leaving. "We're not going to give him what he wants. He's going to think he's winning if we let you walk in there alone."

"I won't be alone." Penelope sighed. "Aren't you and Spencer going to be in this room? You can watch me through there," indicating her head over to the double sided mirror. "If you notice him doing anything suspicious, just barge into the room and take me out." She wrapped her hand around Derek's wrist, pulling him away from the door. "Derek Morgan, please let me do this."

Derek blinked his eyes several times, he doesn't know what to do. If he lets her do this, she will probably walk out a lot more affected than she already is. Sure, she is standing here fine and clear minded but he has seen brief symptoms so far that indicates Penelope suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Not wanting to risk it, Derek wants her to stand back and just try to not interact with Jacob. "Baby..."

"Derek..." Penelope muttered softly before she leaned over, wrapping her arms around him. "I haven't hugged you in a long time, have I?" Tightening her grip around him, she exhaled deeply with her eyes closed. It feels really nice to be with her best friend again. "Trust me."

"Alright," Derek finally gave in as soon as he pulled away from the hug. Leaning over, he kissed her on top of the head. "Spencer and I will be right here. If anything happens, that door will be kicked down in an instant."

Penelope briefly smiled. "I wouldn't have thought of any other way, my beautiful human being." With a quick few breaths, she gathered the courage and strength as she opened the door and turned to the door of interrogation room. Feeling shaky and unsettling in her stomach, she cleared her throat - not wanting to give the satisfaction of fear toward this man. With one swift move, she opened the door and stepped in. The door closed behind her, making it official. She is in the room alone with Jacob Franklin once again.

Jacob glanced up from his handcuffed hands and smirked as soon as he realized that Penelope Garcia is standing in front of him. "Hello."

Taking a few steps in front of him, she pulled the chair further away from him before sitting across him. "What do you want?"

"Not even a greeting?" Jacob furrowed his eyebrows together. "It's a shame."

"What do you want?" Penelope repeated.

Jacob sighed. "Are you in here because you want to be or are you here because your toxic team needs information from me? Like I don't know," he shrugged his shoulders in a playful matter with a grin across his face. "Bodies that I've hidden."

"Are there bodies?" Penelope asked. She saw no point in asking that certain questions because she knows there are other bodies. "If so, where is it? Another house? Motel?"

"Where do you think it is?" Jacob tilted his head sideways. "How about the back of a truck? You remember how cold it was, don't you?"

Truck. Penelope shivered at the memory of being in the freezing cold, metal room. "Your truck was never found." Hard to believe that a truck that big is able to be hidden out in the open. He had to have blended it at a truck rest stop or somewhere that she doesn't know because she hasn't been there yet.

Jacob leaned against his seat, the sounds of rattling from the handcuffs filled the air in the room. "Just spill it. I know you don't want to ask me about the bodies. Come on, Penelope." His eyes adverted over to the mirror, knowing very well that somebody or possibly the whole team is watching them at the moment. "Take out your anger. You have my full divided attention. I'm the one with my hands tied up this time," making more rattling sounds with the handcuffs. "Instead of you being tied up, this is your one chance."

Penelope knew what he was doing. He wanted her to lose it mentally in front of him. Trying to keep control of her emotions, she stared at him straight in the eyes. "Jacob Franklin." She finally knows his last name and after a rundown in the system, she has learned everything that she needed to know. "Or should I call you by something else." Noticing that it caught Jacob's attention by the way his eyes diverted over to the sides for a few seconds. "Jacob Franklin McRoy."

"As expected from FBI's most dangerous and powerful hacker," Jacob smirked. "I knew you would've done your research before you walked in here."

"Golden boy." Penelope simply said. She's no profiler, she doesn't know the way with words like how her friends does. But she has been with the BAU and has witnessed her friends at work for so long, she knows the basic on how to break someone down. And with Jacob Franklin in front of her, she will definitely use all the tactics that she knows to break this man down. "You had everything even before you were born. Your parents are wealthy enough to have seven real estates under their name. Four of which will soon be changed to under your name specifically." She watched as he uncomfortably moved around in his seat. "Born with wealth and power, you lived a pretty easy life."

Jacob chuckled. "Is this the best you can do, Penelope?" He leaned over and within a blink of an eye, he reached over managing to touch her hand before she snatched it away. As soon as he saw her eyes widened in fear, he grinned. "Just because I am in this room with handcuffs on me and that precious team of yours over there watching me, that doesn't mean I am shivering in fear." He narrowed his eyes at her as he shrugged his shoulders. "I still have more power of you than you like to believe."

Ignoring what he said, she briefly turned her head over to the mirror - making sure that she shows Derek that she's fine. With her hands clenching onto each other, she cleared her throat. As soon as she's out of this room, she going to scrub these hands until they're red. "Was it because no one loved you back? Not even your own parents?" She hates talking about people's pain. She spends her weekends counseling families on their pain, easing them so they could go home with restful sleep. What kind of a twisted fate is she in right now? Sitting across the man that not kidnapped and sexually assaulted her - talking about his pain whether her own. "What did they do? Give you a wad of cash each week so you wouldn't bother them? Were they in their own little perfect world, handling charities and boarding schools as their jobs." This time, she was the one that tilted her head sideways as she looked at them. "You're right. I've done my research. For almost half of your life, your parents has more pictures with other kids than you. The kids that they helped out and provided with their attention. Where were you when this all went down? In your room? Waiting for that door to open so your mommy can give you a goodnight kiss?" She waited a few seconds, testing the waters of the conversation. "Did she ever even give you a goodnight kiss?" Penelope could sense that the silence was an answer that she's slightly breaking him. "The answer's no, isn't it?"

"I know what you're trying to do," Jacob said. "Two can play at this game, I hope you know that."

"I have nothing." Penelope remarked. "You don't have anything on me because the day you kidnapped me, you took everything away. Go ahead and talk about my painful past, it'll do nothing for me." She looked at him with such anger, she wished she could just punch him across the face right now. "If there is one difference between you and I, I'm not a murderer." She glared at him, making sure that he could see the anger in her eyes. "Yes, my parents died but at least I didn't personally murder my own parents." She thought back to what she learned about him from the system. "Eighteen years old."

Jacob looked at her. With only a smirk plastered across his face, he leaned against the chair, awaiting for Penelope to finish talking. If she really does believe that she can break him, go ahead. He'll let her have her little fun right now.

"On the day you turned eighteen years old, you murdered your parents in the middle of the night. You planned everything from beginning to end. You knew your parents would just hand you a big check, a check big enough where you could live on your own for a while. But before you went off on your own, you had one thing to do." Penelope cleared her throat. "It was your first murder, your first thrill. For eighteen years, you only felt anger and frustration in your life. Always being left alone, searching for hobbies to do. Maybe that's how you learned the tactics of stalking people. It kept you company, to think that you were close to one person by stalking. I bet some of the people you stalked were the kids that your parents gave attention towards instead of you."

"Really?" Jacob chuckled. "Sarah Baker, Lilian Tucker, Rose Parrison, Daisy Rawlings - " he paused before smiling. "Carter Williams." Noticing at the grimace expression Penelope's face, he smiled. "How was meeting Carter? If there is one thing I expected from her, it's loyalty. Too bad she broke it when she showed your team where Daisy was."

"You didn't stalk Carter." Penelope said. "And she didn't break any loyalty. You knew she would break under pressure and reveal where Daisy's body was."

Jacob nodded his head. "You're right." He exhaled deeply, leaning over the table again. "My first murder were my parents. I watched them slowly die to death with every stroke of that knife. The way their eyes rolled back into their sockets, the way they both drew their last breath in disappointment. What disappointment? Don't you think they should be glad that their forgotten son finally found something that gave him the meaning of life?" He smiled. "But you're wrong." He leaned again and shrugged his shoulders. "Their death or the fact of killing them didn't give me the first thrill in life."

"What was it?"

"Andrea Westerfield."

Penelope eyed him. "How old were you?"

"Fourteen." Jacob smiled as if it was something to truly be proud about. "I spent a year with her. I knew her routine. Sometimes she surprised me by changing her schedule but I always a few steps behind her." The look in his eyes changed. "After a year, I didn't have anymore. Stalking her for a year, you practically learn about one person. It was too bad. She didn't want to change herself for me. She didn't believe that she could be a different person, the person that she's meant to be! So I killed her, strangling her until she took one last breath." He inhaled and exhaled with a deep satisfaction of revealing his proudest moment. "She was like you. Not wanting to give in, forcing me to take certain measures that I wasn't ready for yet."

"Wasn't ready for yet?" Penelope repeated in a stronger, firm tone. "Sexually assaulting a woman was taking certain measures for making me give in?!"

Jacob smiled. "I did what I did and I'm not ashamed of it."

She could feel her insides boiling. "You are a piece of - "

"How's Luke?" Jacob interrupted her. "I bet those stab wounds can't be doing well for him. With all that emotional and physical stress in him, his mind must be all over the place right now."

"Don't talk about him." Penelope warned.

"Is he in there?" Jacob indicated over to the mirror, making sure he waved his hand with a smirk. "Ah, I bet he isn't." He looked at her carefully. "And I can bet anything that you didn't even bother on informing him about me being in here." He made a _tsking_ sound with his mouth as he shook his head. "Maybe it's a good thing. Who can stop Luke Alvez from killing the man who murdered his one and only family member left in this world? Your team not informing him about their recent guest must be for their own measures."

"Why? Why Bernice?"

Jacob blinked. "Why Luke?" He closed his eyes for a few seconds. "I'm not going to lie to you like how the others are. I targeted her because of you."

Penelope could feel her heart tightening. "What..."

"When I rebooted the hospital surveillance back into my own system, I noticed Bernice Alvez there. Talking about how she is thankful for her grandson to be alive and well. I listened into their conversations, you know. The way Luke looked at her, I knew how to get back on him for coming back alive. What other way could affect him? Why not his grandmother? If he isn't going to listen to me and stay away, I will take away what or anyone who is in his life." Jacob looked at Penelope, knowing very well that her mind and heart wouldn't be able to take this. "If you like Luke, it makes Luke my enemy. He disturbed my routine. I had months with you but no. You wanted to run away, making everything else complicated. Her death is on you, Penelope Garcia. Can you live up to that guilt? If I am as weak as you, I know I wouldn't be able to live with myself. What are you going to do? With that sweet, fragile heart of yours, I don't think you'll handle it. You'll slowly die inside, emotionally scarred by what I've done to you but also with the other ten lives that have died because of your own existence. I'm going to ask you again," he smirked. "What are you going to do?"

Before Penelope could answer, the sounds of someone pounding against mirror caused her to slightly jump in the seat. "No." She knew what that pounding was indicating, they want her to leave the room. They can tell that instead of her mentally breaking him down, he's managing to do it within a few seconds towards her.

Jacob looked straight at the mirror. "How much do you know about Luke Alvez? I am honestly surprised. Within seven months, you still don't understand who he is. What makes him trigger? What makes him angry? What makes him upset? What makes frustrated? You don't know any of that, do you? Do you understand how much suffering he went through with his parent's death? And how that suffering will just double over with his grandmother's death?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Penelope questioned.

"What makes you think Luke isn't on his way over here right now?" Jacob asked. "I know about him much more than you do, Penelope. And I definitely know how to make him angry." He glanced over at the mirror. "Angry enough to where he will disobey doctor's orders and charge his way over here." He started playing with the chain on the handcuffs, clearing his throat. "What could I possibly tell him that would make him come over here without notice? That's the questions that's repeating in your mind right now." A few seconds of silence went by. "She was a feisty old woman, that Bernice Alvez. When I wrapped the rope around her neck, she was still fighting. The spirit in her made it even more fun for me. Watching her - "

The door burst opened and Derek made his way into the room, his hand gripping around Penelope's wrist. Pulling her away from Jacob, he glared at him. "That's enough. We're done. You've talked to her. Are there bodies or not?"

"I still have 69 more hours to be detained in here." Jacob answered. "I don't need a lawyer. This game's too fun right now."

Penelope tried to take Derek's hand off her wrist. "I'm not done."

Derek pulled her out of the room, shutting and locking the door. Once he turned and looked at Penelope, he drew out a deep breath. "You're done."

"No! Derek, I was - "

"Penelope!" Derek didn't want to yell at her but as he watched through that mirror, listening to that conversation - he knew that Jacob got to Penelope. "You can't do this anymore."

Spencer got out of the alternate room, hanging up the phone as he looked at Derek and Penelope. "We have a problem."

"What?" Derek asked.

"When Jacob started talking about Luke, I sent a text to JJ." Since JJ and Tara took over their guard shift at the hospital, he only wanted to make sure that Luke is fine. "She called me. Luke's missing."

Penelope's eyes widened. "What?!" She immediately rushed over to the alternate room, staring at Jacob through the mirror. He was waiting for her. With that same smirk on his face, he stared back at her before waving his hands. "He knew."

"Of course." Derek said. "He always has a damn plan."

. . .

 **Thursday 9:10PM**

"You've got to be seriously kidding me," Emily muttered under her breath as soon as she caught up with the others in the waiting room. "Luke's missing?!"

JJ ran a hand through her hair out of frustration. "I came in and checked up on him around 8:20. He was sleeping soundly. The nurse told me that she gave him painkillers because he was complaining about pain around his torso again."

Tara nodded her head. "Since JJ checked up on him, I saw no other reason to check up on him again until another hour passed." She looked at the others, feeling extremely apologetic. "I'm so sorry."

"No," Emily sighed. "You did the right thing. The rule was to check every hour." She closed her eyes to think about what to do. The higher superiors is definitely not going to like this. They're already pressuring her to close the case down since they have Jacob Franklin in custody right now. "Have you checked the cameras?"

"Stephen and Rossi are checking as we speak," JJ answered. She adverted her gaze over to the sound of footsteps down the hallway. "They're here."

Emily looked at them with a hopeful expression. "Anything?"

"No one took him." Rossi said.

"What?" The women asked in confusion. "If no one took him, why is he gone?"

Stephen sighed. "I think Jacob knew what he was talking about when he brought up Luke while talking to Penelope. He probably did something before he sat in Tara's lecture."

"Did something?" Tara repeated. "What do you mean?"

Emily narrowed her eyes at the basket of flowers on the nurse's reception desk. "I think I know what he meant," she rushed over to the desk, looking at the nurse. "Was this for Agent Alvez?"

The nurse stood up from her seat in confusion. "Yes."

"When? When was this sent in?" Emily questioned.

"Uh," she snapped her fingers to think faster. "Around 7PM?"

Tara looked at them. "My lecture started at 7 but I arrived ten minutes late."

"Was there a card? Anything inside that Agent Alvez read?" JJ asked.

The nurse nodded her head. "This," handing it over to the team. "It says that Miss Garcia sent it in."

"Penelope?" Emily repeated. The team knew for a fact that Penelope didn't send these flowers in. She looked down at the note and read it.

 _That necklace was beautiful. I wonder if I should throw it or not in the trash can. Meet me at the BAU when you can._

"Necklace?" Rossi didn't understand why would Jacob send something like this.

Tara scoffed in disbelief. "The medical examiner said that around the rope marking on Bernice's neck, indicated that something else was there. Something like jewelry that she has had on for a very long time."

"That's what he used to lure Luke out of the hospital." JJ said. "Luke's heading to the BAU right now." She took out her phone to call up Spencer.

. . .

 **Thursday 9:35PM**

"Got it," Spencer hung up the phone. "Luke is on his way here."

"For what?" Derek asked. "The doctor clearly didn't allow this to happen. He snuck out?"

Spencer looked at Jacob through the mirror. "A basket of flowers was sent to Luke under Garcia's name."

"What?" Penelope asked. "I didn't send him flowers."

"Exactly. Jacob Franklin sent it a few minutes before he sat down in Tara's lecture class. There was a note, he used it as a lure for Luke to come here."  
"What was the lure? What was on the note?"

Spencer arched an eyebrow as soon as he saw Jacob taking something out of his pockets, a necklace. "That." The sound of the door opening distracted them. "Luke."

Luke took a deep breath, his eyes glaring at Jacob. "I'm going in."

Derek grabbed his arm. "No. It's what he wants! We don't know what he has planned for this. None of us can think of a reason why he would just voluntarily get caught like this but it's probably not good." He pulled Luke back, knowing very well that Luke's a bit out of it since his wounds are newly stitched. "I'm not allowing this."

"What if it was Savannah? Or Hank?"

"Excuse me?" Derek immediately questioned. "Why are you bringing my wife and son into this?!"

Luke snatched his arm back, his eyes filled with anger and frustration. "For weeks, I've let your team do whatever you wanted. I've handled your unstable emotions towards the case because I can understand." He narrowed his eyes. "For once, please understand for my own benefit. I'm going in there, are you going to stop me or not?"

Derek didn't know what to say. Hearing what Luke just said, he can understand why his wife and son were brought up. If somebody murdered his family and sat across from view sight, holding onto something of his - he would want to be in the same room too. "Ten minutes."

And just like that, Luke marched his way to the interrogation room. "Jacob."

Jacob looked up and smirked. "Ah, Luke Alvez. It's nice to see you again."

Luke stared at the necklace in Jacob's hand. It was the necklace he bought for his grandmother after landing his first position since graduating from the police academy. The first gift he bought for her, using his very own money. Since she wore it, she never took it off. Luke had just assumed that the necklace was taken into her belonging bags for him to take late in the medical examiner's office. Never did he thought that Jacob would daringly take it from her like this. "I'm here. Just like what you wanted."

"It's nice to see you up on your feet again," Jacob said. "That wheelchair wasn't really fitting with you."

"The necklace." Luke changed the topic.

"Ah, this?" Jacob held it up, letting it dangle in front of Luke. "Your grandmother loved this, didn't she?" He shrugged his shoulders. "I can only assume so since," he opened the heart locket, indicating the photo of Luke, Bernice and his parents inside. "What were you? Six? Was this the last photo you took with your parents before they died?"

Luke narrowed his eyes at him. "I was eight in the photo."

"You were really small for an eight year old then," Jacob took one last look before dropping the necklace onto the table between them. "Take it."

"What game are you trying to play?" Luke didn't take the necklace, letting it stay there on the middle of the table. "Giving me the necklace this easily, you could've just walked into the hospital. Not make a big show about it like what you're doing right now." The longer Luke sat on the chair, the more painful he could feel his body is in. Not wanting to show pain in front of somebody like Jacob, Luke quickly cleared his throat as he clenched onto the end of the table. "I don't have much patience for this. Spill whatever it is that you want to say."

Jacob leaned against the chair as he looked at Luke. "How was it?"

Luke doesn't like the kind of behavior that Jacob is showcasing right now. He's indicating facial expressions of somebody who knows what he is doing. Being in the interrogation room is only probably part of his plan. "How was what?" The idea of playing along with him like this makes him so infuriated.

"Watching your parents die like that." Jacob calmly said as if it's a normal topic to bring up. "I did my research."

Luke took a deep breath, his eyes glancing over at the mirror. "Shut it."

"Oh? Does your team members not know how your parents died?" Jacob felt even more intrigued by this conversation. "What was it? June 6th? June 7th?" He snapped his fingers, smiling. "June 8th at exactly 11:45. You were 9 years old when the car flipped with you in the backseat. Dangling in the air upside down like that, watching as your parents try to make you feel better. They were bloody, weren't they? Smiling with blood through their teeth, trying to reassure their son that everything would be alright." He paused, enjoying the facial expression that Luke had on. "What I didn't understand during my research was why were your parents driving at that time of night like that? 10PM? You should've been in bed instead."

Luke slammed his hands onto the table. "Shut up!"

"Were they on the road because of you? Did you wanted something and started to whine until you got it? Were you a spoiled child?" Jacob continued on, staring straight at Luke in the eyes, not showing any ounce of fear at all. "You knew that they would give you anything you wanted because since the day you were born, you were that child! Asking mommy if she can buy this toy or that game. Asking daddy if he could teach you manly things." Jacob stood up so they could look eye to eye with each other. "I'm serious, it's a curious thought. What did you ask for that night, making your parents drop everything so they could take you wherever it is?"

"Ice cream," Luke finally answered. "I wanted Helen's ice cream. We were heading back home after spending an hour at the place. We were almost there when we got hit by a truck. Multiple collusions that night."

"I heard," Jacob faked a sincere smile. "The truck hit your parent's car causing the car behind them to halt on their brakes. How many was it? Seven car collusions on the middle of the road. That's a lot."

Luke exhaled deeply. "Five dead including my parents." He doesn't know why he's sharing this with him. He hasn't spoken about the car accident since he was in middle school. The only time he has said anything involving about his parents were with his grandmother. "Was this what you wanted? Revealing my deepest painful past in front of everybody behind that mirror?"

"No." Jacob sat back down, pleased with himself. "Just thought that it would be lovely for your teammates to finally learn more about you."

Scoffing in disbelief, Luke forcibly kicked the chair out of the way. "What kind of joke are you playing?! If you want to carry on with whatever sick plan you have, go ahead! Do it!" He narrowed his eyes at Jacob, he wants to punch this guy so badly. "I'm going to give you five seconds and if you don't - "

"Do you want to know what her last words were?" Jacob asked as he folded his hands together, amused by Luke's sudden showcase of anger and frustration. "In the hours I spent with her, she never showed me fear. Just like how you aren't. Maybe it's the bloodline."

Luke could only just laugh at the audacity from this guy. He turned his head to the mirror, his hands gripping onto the edges of the mirror. He's about to lose it. No, he's definitely going to lose it soon. "I need air."

Jacob watched as Luke walked over to the door. " _You can kill me if you want but once my ninito has you, he'll never let you go. My baby, Luke Alvez, is a strong boy. He knows what to do when danger comes especially when it involves his family. Go ahead and kill me if you dare. If I die, not only will I hunt you in your dreams but he'll hunt you down until he places handcuffs around your damn wrists. You know better than to miss with someone at my kind of age. You will have karma for this. You will suffer and my ninito will make sure you do." Jacob smirked. "_ Too bad I already have handcuffs around my wrists or your grandmother would've been right."

"You son of a - " the lights suddenly turned off in the room.

. . .

 **Thursday 9:48PM**

Derek's eyes widened in the dark. "What the hell just happened?!"

Spencer rushed over to the door, opening it. There's a complete blackout throughout the building. "It must be the power line."

Penelope knit her eyebrows together as she stared at the mirror, complete darkness. "Power line? We don't have a power line. The building's power is run by - " the lights suddenly turned on. "What the hell?"

"Maybe it was just a malfunction." Derek reasoned.

She turned her attention over to the mirror and that's when she gasped so loud, it alarmed Derek and Spencer to look at what she's staring. Nothing. She's staring at nothing because nobody is inside the interrogation room. "Where are they?!"

Derek rushed out of the room. He glanced around at the other agents around the floor. "Did anybody see the suspect?!"

"No," one of the agents answered. "What's wrong?"

"Call Agent Prentiss and have her bring the others here!" The agent just stood there in confusion. "HEY! I mean, right now!"

"Where's Luke?!" Penelope asked.

Spencer opened the door to the interrogation room, he walked over to the table and found the necklace is still there. Picking up the jewelry, he sighed as he looked at Penelope. "I think we can confirm that Luke is officially missing now."

. . .

 **Friday 12:39AM**

He opened his eyes in confusion. Finding blood running down his head, he started coughing from the sudden coldness that he felt running down his spine. What was going on? The last thing he could remember was being in the interrogation room. The sound of what seems like an air conditioner turned on, making it even colder in the room. Groaning in pain, he must've been hit in the head or something.

"She was wrong," stepping out from the shadows, Luke stared at Jacob Franklin, who was tied down on a chair with taped over his mouth. "About hunting you down with a pair of handcuffs." He leaned over, staring at Jacob in the eyes. "I'm not going to hunt you down and bring you back to the BAU. That's being too nice for somebody like you." Luke kicked the chair legs, causing Jacob to fall harshly onto the floor - not able to do anything but grunt through the tape, trying to take his hands off around the rope. "What is that?" Luke narrowed his eyes at him. "Is that fear that I am seeing in your eyes, Jacob? Because you should be afraid. Thanks to my brief time in the hospital after collapsing twice, I thought about a lot of things. And when that basket of flowers and card came for me, that's when I realized you were planning for something. But the thing is, you're not the only one that can plan things out in a blink of an eye. What I do know is that I am done being behind you at every step. You're not going to kill anybody anymore, I'll make sure of it. You're not the only that has a grand plan to showcase." Luke kicked the chair legs again, causing Jacob to slide around on the floor. "Do you feel that? That's cold air coming through the air conditioner. Just like how you made Penelope suffer, I am going to make you suffer through the same pain you gave her and my grandmother."

Jacob started making grunting noises through the tape. In one swift move, Luke tore the tape off. "You're messing with the wrong person."

Luke scoffed before covering the tape over Jacob's mouth again. "No." He stood back up despite the pain he could feel rising on his torso again. Making his way over to the door, he turned off the lights so Jacob could be alone in the dark and cold. "You're the one that's messing with the wrong person."


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Friday 3:00AM

Despite the constant sound of scraping and muffling screaming from Jacob Franklin inside the bathroom, Luke closed his eyes as he peacefully rest on the cheap hard motel bed. It has been a little over six hours since he took Jacob from the interrogation room and traveled all the way to this place. He knows what he is doing is wrong and totally against the law. He has stepped way out of line to the point of no return now. Opening his eyes, he stared blankly at the ceiling. _What am I doing_ , he thought to himself. How did he get to this point? Something in him just snapped while he was in the hospital. Spending that brief time resting on a hospital bed, grieving over your one and only family member and recieving a basket of flowers with a card from the suspect that was taunting you - it was a big motivator.

Glancing over to the nightstand, he stared at his phone. He had his phone off since he entered the BAU to be in the interrogation room with Jacob. How many times has the members tried to call him now? How many text messages does he have unread? Does the team members know about what he did yet? Knowing them very well, they probably are still on their toes while thinking that he got kidnapped instead. Being the best BAU team is one thing but with emotions extremely high, Luke is a personal witness to watch their skills falter under the emotional stress.

A different sound distracted his thoughts, causing him to advert his attention from the ceiling over to the windows. It was the sound of a car pulling into the motel's parking lot. Jumping out of the bed, he leaned against the wall and slightly opened the curtains to see who it was. He watched as a woman got out of the car with a motel key in her hand. She must be checking in right now. Luke narrowed his eyes at the license plate. _That's odd_ , he thought. The license plate is just numbers. By law, a license plate has to at least have letters listed as well. "What are you doing?" Luke muttered to himself as he looked away and laid back down onto the bed. Since arriving to the motel, he has been paranoid over everything. Closing his eyes, he sighed deeply as he folded his hands before placing it on top of his stomach. _I just need sleep_ , he constantly repeated to himself. _Sleep, just a few minutes of sleep._

 **27 years ago, 11:35PM**

 _"Luke, how many times did I tell you to wash your hands before we got in the car?" His mother complained as she leaned her head over the passenger seat, watching him play with his sticky hands. "I knew we shouldn't have ice cream this late."_

 _His father chuckled as he fixed the rearview mirror while driving. "Honey, he'll be fine. Sticky hands isn't going to kill him and we can always clean the car tomorrow."_

 _"We?" His mother arched an eyebrow._

 _"I will," his father laughed as he changed lanes on the road. "I will clean the car since it was my idea to take him out to Helen's."_

 _His mother shook her head in disappointment. "Like father, like son. How could you guys be craving for ice cream this late at night at the same time?"_

 _"It was my idea." Luke said proudly. The chocolate stains on his hand were so obvious, he couldn't hide it from her. "Daddy just agreed with me."_

 _His mother sighed. "What am I going to do with you two?"_

 _"Love us," His father jokingly responded before reaching over for his wife's hand, kissing it softly. "Because we love you."_

 _Luke smiled to himself, watching the love that his parents has always shown in front of him. Although he is only nine years old, he is already dreaming of the perfect marriage - something like what his parents has. With his stomach feeling content and his heart happy with the amount of ice cream he got to have this late, he turned his head toward the window to rest his eyes._

 _Before he had time to adjust at what was happening, the sound of his parent's screaming disturbed his sleep. Confusion and fear ran down his spine as soon as a pair of headlights blinded his vision. The car flipped over numerous times onto the road before landing harshly near the side of the highway. His whole body was dangling upside down in the air, Luke started screaming as he tried to pull the seatbelt out._

 _"Baby! No!" His mother screamed as she struggled to pull her own seatbelt. "Don't do anything! Help will come soon." Blood. It's all he can see when he looked at his mom's face, she was bleeding everywhere. "We'll be okay, I promise."_

 _Luke cried loudly as he looked through the broken window near him. "HELP! Somebody help!" He has never begged for anything more than this. "Please!"_

 _"Shhhhh," his father heavily coughed as he reached over to touch his son's hand. "Everything will be alright, I promise."_

 _Why do they keep saying that? Luke shook his head viciously as he tried to pull the seatbelt out but the damn thing wouldn't budge. "Mommy..." He looked up and froze at the sight of his parents, laying unconscious. "Daddy..." Tears streamed down his face, Luke screamed even louder for help as he turned his head toward the windows. "HELP!"_

 **Present, 3:40AM**

Luke opened his eyes at the sound of someone knocking on the door. Getting up on the bed, he listened carefully at knocking. It's light and timid, sounds just like a woman's knocking. He narrowed his eyes at the door, why would somebody knock on the door at this time? Turning his head over to the bathroom, which is oddly quiet, he glanced back at the motel's door.

"Is someone in there?"

Deciding it's best to stay quiet, Luke froze. Not wanting to make any subtle noises that could give away his presence.

"Do you have ice in there? The management office is closed for the night and I really need ice for my drink." The quiet, timid voice of a woman came through the door. "Uh, not to sound nosy but I did hear you screaming earlier so you must be inside, right?"

Luke exhaled deeply as he closed his eyes. _It must've been Jacob_ , he thought. Having no choice, he walked over to the mini fridge in the room, grabbing the ice bucket that he had retrieved earlier. Slightly opening the door, he came face to face with the woman, who he had seen earlier. "Here you go."

"Thank you." She took the ice bucket and smiled. "Sorry to disturb your sleep."

"No problem." Luke said. "Just leave the bucket outside the door when you're done." Not waiting for her response, he closed and locked the door behind him before sitting on the bed. Glancing at the clock, he sighed. Only forty minutes has passed? He adverted his attention over to the bathroom, it's been a little too quiet. Making his way over to the bathroom, he opened the door and turned on the lights.

Jacob laid on the floor, shivering from the coldness as he glared at Luke. He tried to speak through the tape but it was useless. Being surrounded light for the first time since the lights were shut off earlier, he glanced around to see where he was at. Luke Alvez is a clever guy. Placing a small air conditioner in the bathroom randomly like this so he could freeze while waiting. Only someone with a twisted mind as him would think of something this extreme.

"Whatever you're thinking, you might be right." Luke said. "But if you're thinking that I'm letting you freeze to death in here, you're wrong." He stepped inside the bathroom, hovering over Jacob's shivering body. Harshly ripping the tape off his face, Luke smirked as he looked at him. "Why would I go through all this trouble just to have you lay on the ground like this? I could've simply done that back in the interrogation room. Letting you freeze to death? That's the easiest option out of the three."

Jacob narrowed his eyes at him. "You'll never get away with this, Alvez. Aren't you forgetting that you're a federal agent with credentials to worry about? What makes you think you'll be able to return to work after killing a man?"

"Like I said, why would I go through all this trouble? When I left the hospital after reading that taunting message from you, I already made my decision. I know that I won't be able to keep the badge or gun but I could really careless." Luke clenched onto the front of Jacob's shirt as he brought his face closer. "Whether I die while trying to kill you or we both die here, nothing else matters."

"You're crazy." Jacob simply said. "All of this over a death? How'd you even end up as a cop if you can't handle one simple death?"

Luke's eyes widened in anger. In one swift move, he punched Jacob across the face. "I dare you to say it again."

"What should I say again?" Jacob smirked. "Her last words before her last breath?" He let a couple seconds go by, testing the waters. By the look on Luke's face, Jacob could tell that he's already hitting the spot. "How about I repeat Penelope's words on the days she was with me instead?"

Luke scoffed at the audacity that comes from this man is extremely appalling. "You really have a death wish, don't you?"

"Here's the thing, Agent Alvez." Despite being tied up around a chair, Jacob still won't let fear show. "I don't think you're able to kill me. Want to know why? Outside this room and past that door that I heard knocking from earlier, is Penelope Garcia - waiting for you come back. Do you honestly believe that she would want you or even learn to love you after knowing what you have done? Murdering somebody?"

"If it's someone as worthless as you, she wouldn't care."

Jacob laughed. "Penelope Garcia? The almighty princess of everything pure?" He arched an eyebrow. "You don't have it in you, there isn't an ounce of murderous trait in you. If there was, she wouldn't have fallen in love with you like she already did." He leaned closer to Luke, a grin plastered across his face as if he is really enjoying the current situation he is in.

Luke nodded his head while smirking. "Originally, I was going to play around with three options before I decide on which one to go with." Taking the roll of tape from the sink, Luke tore off a piece and placed it on top of Jacob's mouth. "After listening to that horrendous mouth of yours, I've decided to just go with the third option. It's the most fitting actually." Raising his fist in the air, he punched Jacob across the face repeatedly. "You beat Penelope up a couple times, didn't you? How about Bernice? I've seen the autopsy results, she had bruises all over her body." Hovering over Jacob's body, he continuously punched Jacob until his knuckles were covered in blood. "How did it make you feel?! Beating an elderly woman like that?! Did you feel better?!" Luke stood up, breathing heavily as he glared at Jacob's bloody and bruised face. The longer he stared at him, the more anger he could feel rising in him. Leaning over to the air conditioner, he increased the level of coldness before shutting the bathroom door behind him.

. . .

 **Friday 7:00AM**

She placed the laptop roughly on the conference table, her expression filled with defeat and frustration. "It's a dead end." Penelope blinked and rubbed her eyes several times, she hasn't slept since the chaos has begun again. "Luke's phone is off and the number that is only listed under Jacob's name is also off."  
Derek sighed. "Where could Jacob Franklin possibly take Luke?"

Emily leaned against the wall as she blankly stared at her cell phone in her hand. The phone has been constantly ringing since the news of Luke being kidnapped spread like wildfire in the FBI. The higher superiors are probably pissed and making a list of demands to be done by the team. She's trapped between making a decision of her own or following an order that she knows she will disagree on. Again, it's around a moment like this, that she wishes she wasn't the Unit Chief. "Garcia, can you think of anything? Places where Jacob could possibly take Luke? Was there any places that you think hold significance for him?"

"Unless Jacob is off murdering people again for their houses, he has to be in a motel." Penelope answered truthfully. "I'm not wrong, right? They don't ask for identification nor about what kind of situation you are in. As long as you have money, the room's yours." She looked over at Derek, who was nodding along to what she was saying. "I am certain it has to be motels."

Rossi nodded his head. "Spencer."

Spencer was already out of his seat and taking out the map before Rossi called his name. Placing the map on the conference table, he furrowed his eyebrows together as he studied it.

JJ leaned over to help. "How about this?" Circling around the rural areas for him. "How many motels are there?"

"63." Spencer answered. "This area is engulfed with mostly people who are traveling across states." He looked at the team, giving them a reassuring expression. "Which is perfect for somebody who wants to hide without questioning."

Emily nodded her head as she snapped her fingers. "We will take care of half of the motels and send another team for the others. We're on a time limit right now. My phone won't stop ringing until we find Luke and the bastard."

The sound of knocking distracted the team, who were grabbing their jackets. Agent Anderson Grant stood by the doorway, clearing his throat as he looked at them with nervousness. "Unit Chief, I have something to share with you and the team."

Emily looked at him. "What is it?" She put on her jacket as she put her phone away. "Anderson, we're a bit in a rush."

With his hands fidgeting and his neck sweating, he didn't dare to look at any of them straight in the eyes. "The power outage from earlier," Anderson said slowly. "I did it."

Tara looked at him. "Excuse me? Why would you do something like that?"

Anderson took a deep breath. "An hour before Agent Alvez arrived to the BAU, he had called me. He had instructed that once he walks through the bullpen and enter the interrogation room, I had to go downstairs and wait a few minutes before turning off the powers. Before the power outage, I had to get a vehicle for him ready downstairs in the underground parking lot, an undisclosed vehicle with no GPS tracker to be more exact." He could see their facial expressions weren't exactly happy with what they were hearing. "One full minute," he further shared. "Agent Alvez told me to turn the powers back on after a minute had passed."

"Of course," Spencer muttered, everything was starting to make sense for him. Since their disappearance, he couldn't figure out how exactly Jacob got Luke out of the building under one minute. "Fugitive Task Force were taught to move along in the dark most of the time so they could stay hidden from their suspects. Luke is practically highly skilled in that certain area." Calculating the math in his head by the physical speed of Luke Alvez, he nodded his head. "It would take him only thirty seconds to move along the bull and through the stairs. With his speed and physical strength while being injured and carrying Jacob out of the building, a full minute is absolutely no problem for him."

"Why would he do something like that?" Tara asked. "Doesn't he know that he's risking almost everything by doing this?"

"Grief." JJ replied. "His grandmother's death is taking such a huge toll on him that he's not thinking straight anymore. He's slowly losing his mind and having Jacob taunting him over it doesn't make it any better."

Stephen looked at the map. "So the motels are out of the question now?"

Rossi snapped his fingers. "No. It's definitely the motels, Luke has to be in one of these motels right now."

"How do you know?" Derek asked.

JJ narrowed her eyes at the picture of Bernice on their board. "Luke is smart. He wouldn't keep Jacob in his own house or Bernice's. He would know that it'll be the first places we would check out once we knew the truth." She glanced over at Penelope, who had an unsettling expression on her face. "Bernice's death may have been the trigger for him to go rogue like this. But it definitely won't be the reason for him to act out and harm Jacob. Penelope's kidnapping and sexual assault will be the trigger of it - the factor of Luke possibly overstepping the line and cause harm to Jacob." She glanced at Penelope. "We've seen the interrogation tape," JJ explained to the team. After coming back from the hospital, the rest of the team had watched the recording from the room. "Jacob likes to taunt his victims. Once he knows something from their past or something of use that he could use against them, he will continue talking about it. He loves to taunt. He won't give up."

Derek nodded his head. "And with Luke slowly losing his cool, he won't hold back if Jacob keeps talking."

"This is Luke Alvez that we're talking about here," Stephen tried to reason with them. "Since we took on this case from day one, he's the calmest out of the bunch. He knows how to control his emotions and not rely on violence." He couldn't understand why the team would just automatically assume that Luke would actually do something to harm Jacob. "I get it, don't get me wrong. Jacob's a bastard and he deserves a beating but we're people with credentials and a gun to worry about. Would he really risk everything for just merely one guy?"

Penelope blinked her eyes several times. "He would risk everything for the people he loves and cares about." She looked at Stephen and Tara, probably the two who doesn't understand where Luke or any of the members are coming from where their standpoint. "Bernice Alvez was his one and only family member left in this world. She was the one that kept him under control. With her being gone, every bit of self control that he has disappeared." She thought back to their previous conversations when they were alone together on the rooftop. "He would hurt Jacob," she paused. "Even kill him if he wants to."

Rossi agreed. "Penelope's right. This isn't about risking everything he had worked so hard for anymore, it'll be the last thing he is worried about. As of right now, it's only about revenge and grief for him."

Tara sighed. "Alright. Since Luke is the one that kidnapped Jacob instead, where would he take him? How are we certain that they would be in one of these 63 motels?"

"In the days that Jacob Franklin had Penelope, he kept her in a motel the longest." Emily explained. "Luke will use it as an attack point towards Jacob."

"Why?" Stephen asked.

Penelope's body shuddered at the memories of her being in the motel room with him coming back. "It was the first time he hit me for what I said."

"Does Luke know that?" Emily didn't even know about the fact that Jacob had first laid a hand on Penelope in the motel room.

"Yeah, he knows about it." Penelope softly said.

"There's something else," Anderson stepped closer into the conference room, walking over to Penelope. "Here you go."

Penelope looked at the flash drive in his hand with confusion. "Why are you giving me this, Anderson?"

"I said I gave him a undisclosed vehicle with no GPS tracker." He looked at the team, trying to give them a smile. "I never said that I wouldn't place one under the car for precautions." Anderson said.

Her eyes widened, realizing what it could only mean for her and the rest of the team. She snatched the flash drive and immediately installed it into her laptop. "Very smart, Anderson." As soon as the flash drive showed up on her screen, she started intensely typing on the keyboard.

"I know that look," JJ said. "I know that look as much as I know Spencer's look when he has an idea or has things going off in his mind."

"Is there a location?" Emily asked. She narrowed her eyes at her phone, vibrating on the table once again. "Excuse me." Taking the phone, she answered the phone call outside the room.

Derek watched Emily carefully, with the way she was constantly moving her hands - it can only be a frustrating and demanding call from the higher superiors. "Baby Girl, please tell us you found something."

Penelope sighed as she closed the laptop. "Nothing. There's no tracker."

Anderson furrowed his eyebrows. "What? How? I discreetly placed it under the car before Agent Alvez came downstairs with Jacob Franklin."

"Luke's smart." Rossi noted. "He would've known that you would do something like that." He turned his attention over to the doorway just as Emily walked back into the room. "What did they say?"

Emily drew out a deep breath, running a hand through her hair. "It was Cruz."

"Matt?" JJ questioned. He was supposed to be on a vacation for a month. Considering the circumstances, it's understandable that his plans have been halted. "What did he say?"

"He managed to pull some extra time for us," Emily explained. "The FBI wants us to release Luke and Jacob's photos into the media as fugitives."

Penelope's eyes widened. "What? Why Luke?"

"I understand Jacob but Luke? Don't they understand his actions are based on his own grief right now?" JJ couldn't understand why they would do this. "Putting Luke's picture in all media forms can cause damage to his reputation as an agent."

"It's exactly what Matt Cruz tried to argue with but," Emily shrugged her shoulders as she sighed. "they don't really care. What's more important is that a federal agent had decided to kidnap a federal suspect under this very building." She felt incredibly apologetic for the team, knowing very well that this was the last kind of result they wanted. "We have until the end of tomorrow. If we don't find the both of them, the pictures spreads like wildfire in the media."

Derek groaned. "Well, Anderson's secret tracker is a dead end. What are we supposed to do?"

"Victimology," Spencer answered. "We make a board for each of them, figure where we go on from there."

Penelope hated that word. "So what? We're going to sit here and actually consider Jacob Franklin as a victim?"

JJ placed her hand onto Penelope's shoulder. "I know that it's the last thing you would want to do. But if it can help find Luke faster, it's the only way."

Stephen nodded his head. "I agree." Taking out the folder that he had kept in his briefcase, he laid out the pictures and old newspaper articles onto the conference table. "We can start from here."

"What is it?" Emily walked over.

"The car accident that caused his parent's death." Stephen simply replied, laying out two final pictures for the team to see. "Meet Maria and Eric Alvez."

Penelope stood up from her seat. "I can't be here for this." Digging into someone's past is one thing but doing it to somebody who is close, she won't stand for it.

"Baby..." Derek clenched onto her arm. "You can't be alone."

"I'll be in my office." Penelope said. "If you want to make sure that I'm safe, let Anderson watch me."

Derek glanced at Anderson, nodding his head. "Alright. I'll check on you in a bit."

"Of course." Penelope followed behind Anderson out of the conference room and through the bullpen. As they were making their way toward the hallway, Penelope glanced around to see if anybody is nearby. "Anderson.."

Stopping in front of her office, Anderson looked at her. "Yes."

Giving him her laptop, she smiled. "Give this to them after two hours."

Anderson couldn't believe this. "Not again." Pleading her with his eyes, he shook his head. "I can't do this, ma'am."

"You will." Penelope argued. "Do you want Agent Alvez's photo to be all over the media? I might be the only one that's able to calm him down before he does something he might regret."

"But - "

"No," Penelope interrupted him. "I understand that it's for the best if the whole team is with me but as of right now, it might be better if it's just me." She put in the passcode to her office, opening the door for him. "Stay in here until two hours are over. Once it is, show the laptop to the team and they'll know where to go from here."

"Garcia..."

"Anderson." Penelope said sternly. "Please."

. . .

 **Friday 11:02AM**

"Why did you do it?" Luke asked softly as he leaned against the bathroom door with his arms crossed across his chest. With the couple of hours of sleep, Luke finally feels a bit energized to be in the same room as Jacob.

Jacob rolled his eyes as he laid on the ground with his arms and legs still tied in a chair. Does Luke really expect him to answer the question with duct tape over his mouth like this?

Luke sighed deeply. "I just can't understand why you would harm an elderly people like that?" With a total of eleven deaths done by the hands of Jacob, the majority of them were elderly people. "Does it make you feel physically stronger than them? Strangling them to their death like that? Knowing that they're too weak to fight back?" Luke narrowed his eyes at Jacob, he still had the audacity to lay there and glare at him. "What about the kids?" The grandchildren from the house where he kept Penelope, the kids couldn't have been older than nine years old. "Does your pity past justify the innocent lives?"

Struggling with the ropes around his wrists, Jacob could only scoff through the tape as a response.

Making his way over to Jacob, he tore off the tape and stepped back. "Speak."

"Justify? I took care of them. If it wasn't for me, they'll grow up and learn that the world isn't just about cookies and cupcakes. I ended them for their own future suffering." Jacob rolled his eyes. "The elderly? They're no better than liars. I killed them for their own benefits. Why rot till your last breath when I could've just taken it away for them?"

Luke clenched his fists. "What about her?"

"Her?" Jacob arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Your grandmother?"

For his own mental health, Luke leaned back against the bathroom door. "What did she ever do? You didn't even know her. Why take her away when she has done nothing but harm towards you?"

"She encouraged you to take the next step with Penelope." Jacob simply said.

Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you kidding me right now?"

"Don't you remember? I said no one can have her." Jacob glared at Luke, he hated him. Thinking he's the almighty hero that can save the long, lost princess. "I watched you and your grandmother that day. When she visited you after waking up from the coma I sent you in. The way she was talking about Penelope and your feelings, that's complete crap." He shrugged his shoulders. "It's all for the better. I was trying to think of another way to make you even more furious and that's when she showed up on my screen. Your little fragile grandmother who just happened to be your one and only family member left in this world? I had to take her. I couldn't lose that chance." A smile spread across his face, remembering the last few moments he had shared with Bernice Alvez. "Even till her last breath, she was a fighter. She wasn't like the other elderly people who gave up as soon as I wrapped the rope around their necks." Jacob shook his head while chuckling. "No, no," his smile vanished. "As she was struggling and until she took her last breath, she kept muttering out your name over and over again. As if you were going to kick down the door and save her." Luke closed his eyes, not wanting to hear any of this any longer. "But you didn't," Jacob was secretly playing with the ropes behind him as Luke was emotionally distracted to see. "How does it feel? Knowing that you had a chance to save her but you didn't. What were you doing while I had Bernice with me, Luke? Let me guess. Weren't you with Penelope, keeping her safe from me? Making sure Penelope was fine and capable to understand that she will be fine in the long run?" Jacob could feel the ropes loosening. "What kind of grandson doesn't check up on their own grandmother? I am going to make a wild guess here," the ropes dropped on the floor and Luke still hasn't notice. "...and say that as of this moment, you are blaming yourself. Not only for Bernice's death but also your parent's."

His eyes snapped opened. "You don't get to talk about them."

"Why? A kid wanting and begging his parents for ice cream is a normal part of growing up. Of course," Jacob smirked. "Not any of them caused their parent's death though."

Just as Luke was about to rush over and punch Jacob, he got surprised when he suddenly stood from the floor and charged his whole body at him. Falling and hitting his head harshly onto the tiled flooring, Luke groaned. Before he had time to react, Jacob opened the bathroom door and started running. "NO!" Quickly getting up from the floor, Luke wrapped his arm around Jacob's neck, dragging him back onto the floor. Within seconds, Luke had his legs wrapped around Jacob, keeping him from running out of the motel room. "You don't get to run away!"

Jacob knew that he was weaker than Luke and if he wanted to run, there is only one thing he could do. His eyes aimed at Luke's torso, still considerably injured and bleeding from the stitches. "What are you going to do? You can't kill me. If you wanted to, you would've done it already. What? Do you really expect for us to have a chit chat in the bathroom for days?" Using all his strength, he punched Luke's torso right at the spots of the old wounds. "Not going to happen."

Luke groaned in pain as he collapsed on the floor from the punch, clenching onto his stomach. He could feel the blood already soaking through his shirt. Silently cursing to himself, Luke managed to get up and slammed Jacob onto the wall before he got to the door again. "Alright, you really want to test me, don't you?" Nodding his head as he clenched his teeth - the pain from his injuries are becoming incredibly intense, more than he had ever expected. Using his elbow, Luke smacked Jacob across the head with it. In one swift move, he grabbed the gun from the television stand and stood face to face with Jacob as he point the gun towards his head. "I will kill you."

"Do it." Jacob said with blood streaming down his head. "I dare you to shoot me, Luke Alvez. Show them! Show them that you can avenge for your grandmother! Shoot me!"

Breathing heavily in and out as he clenched onto the gun, he glared at Jacob. He wanted to shoot him so badly. The memories of seeing his grandmother laying there on the dirt path as if she was nothing but trash is making him so angry. The constant flashbacks of Penelope screaming in her sleep from her days with Jacob ran through his mind.

Jacob couldn't help but laugh at Luke. Even with his torso bleeding out, his head possibly injured and a gun in his hand - he knew that Luke couldn't do it. At the end of the day, the guy's a federal agent. "How do you think Penelope would feel? Knowing that you are standing face to face with me like this, with a gun pointed towards my head - a damn chance to murder me and you're not pulling the trigger." He narrowed his eyes as he laughed. "Let's forget about Bernice for now and think about Penelope. Think about what I did to her during our time together. How much pain and suffering I gave her," he tilted his head sideways. "Especially in that particular house with what I did to her. In that room, on that bed - " the gun pushed against his head as Luke stepped in closer. "That's it." Jacob held out his arms out, showing that he won't fight back. "That feeling you have right now, it's anger. Deep uncontrollable rage you have towards me because of what I did to Penelope."

"Shut up." Luke demanded.

"Do I need to go further for? Deciding to pull the trigger or not doesn't take this long, Alvez. Either you kill me right now or tie me back up." Jacob wasn't scared. In fact, he is prepared for whatever is going to happen next. "DECIDE RIGHT NOW! EITHER YOU KILL ME RIGHT NOW WITH THIS GUN OR TIE ME BACK UP?!"

Luke blinked his eyes, not knowing what to do. "Are you actually taunting me to kill you?"

"What else could I possibly be doing then?" Jacob questioned back. "Shoot me or tie me up. What are you going to choose?"

 _Shoot him_ , he immediately thought. _Just shoot him, Luke!_ "Alright." Without a moment of hesitation, Luke stepped back and wrapped his finger around the trigger.

Jacob stood, not moving an inch. He won't shoot, he won't be able to shoot because his own belief and pride is on the line. "Do it."

Luke nodded his head. "Fine." Just as he pulled the trigger and the sound of somebody knocking on the door distracted him, causing him to misfire and froze on the spot.

"What was that?!" The same woman from earlier spoke through the door. "Don't...Don't mind me. I'm just returning the ice bucket."

Jacob arched an eyebrow as he turned his head and stared at the bullet hole that was right next to his head. He smirked, he was actually going to shoot him? "She shouldn't have come."

"What..." Luke muttered in confusion. His eyes widened once he realized what Jacob meant. "Stop!"

It was too late. Jacob opened the motel door, pulling the innocent woman inside the room. With her frightened eyes and screaming, she stood on her knees immediately. "Please! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!"

Luke stepped in front of her, blocking Jacob. "Step away!" He still had the gun and if Jacob dares to make one move toward the innocent person, he will shoot again. "I said, step away!"

Jacob laughed. "Shoot me!" The door to the motel room was wide opened, if he was going to shoot him - whoever is checked into the motel will hear them. "Shoot me!" He watched as Luke briefly glanced at the woman, making sure she was okay. Using that chance, he started to run toward Luke and the woman when the sound of bullets were heard loud and clear. Shot on the back twice and on his leg, Jacob collapsed onto the ground as he coughed up blood.

His eyes widened in surprise and confusion as Luke stared at Jacob's body on the ground before adverting his attention over to the shooter outside the motel room. "Penelope..."

With the handgun wrapped around her shaking hands, her heart was racing faster than normal rate and her whole body trembling from the automatic shock - Penelope's eyes widened as she stood in the middle of the parking lot, staring straight at Luke.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Friday 1:00PM**

"Where did you get the gun?" Derek asked Penelope, settling her down onto the sidewalk to keep her from trembling. He watched as she continue to stare off into nothing, dazed and confused. "Sweetie, look at me."

Penelope blinked her eyes, her ears hasn't stopped ringing since she shot the gun. "Huh?"

"Where did you get the gun?" Derek repeated, concerned about the way Penelope was acting. The last time she shot a gun like this was when Spencer almost got killed in the hospital. He doesn't want her to go through another process of nightmares and guilt like before.

"The gun?" Penelope blankly stared off at the dirt road. "It's mine, it's registered under my name."

Derek arched an eyebrow. "You bought a registered gun? When?"

"After what happened to me, I didn't feel safe so I went off and registered for it." Penelope turned her head slightly to see the other members huddling around each other, exchanging conversations in a whisper like tone. "Where's Luke?"

"He's not here." Derek answered. "Emily and Rossi took him back to the BAU. He had to return his credentials and gun."

"What's going to happen to him?" Penelope softly muttered. She doesn't even know she asked that kind of question. The BAU has gone rogue plenty of times to know the answer. More than likely, a meeting will be held to discuss about his actions and behavior. Section Chief and probably a whole group of superiors will make a decision on whether he is a good fit to return or will be terminated of career due to the heavy actions that has taken place.

Derek exhaled deeply as he watched the EMTs exit out of the motel room with nothing but their tools. "I don't know." Feeling alarmed about what's about to happen, he quickly stood up and made his way over to the room. Standing by the doorway, he came just in time to see the forensic team placing a blanket over Jacob's unmoving body. "He's dead?"

"EMT's couldn't save him." The coroner explained as he took off his gloves. "Jacob Franklin is my responsibility now. You can come by the office for the autopsy results but I think it's obvious how he died."

"Thanks," Derek hurried over to the members. "Jacob's been declared dead."

JJ sighed as she looked at Penelope. "Why do I feel as if we shouldn't be happy that Jacob Franklin, the bastard that we have been trying to get, is finally dead?"

Tara could understand how she was feeling, all the members had the same bad omen feeling hovering over them. "What's going to happen now?"

"What else? We bring her - " Derek stopped talking when another SUV pulled into the motel's parking lot. "Section Chief."

Matt Cruz stepped out of the vehicle, his eyes glancing at Penelope and over at the team. "I've been informed that Jacob Franklin is dead."

JJ nodded her head. "Please, Matt. Let us - " She watched as Matt concentrated his attention over to Penelope. "No..."

Unable to hide his facial expression, Matt can only briefly give an apologetic look towards the team before slowly pacing himself over to Penelope. "Miss Penelope Garcia."

Penelope looked up from her feet. "Section Chief Cruz."

"I am sorry to do this," taking the pair of handcuffs from his pockets, he signaled Penelope to stand up so it could be quick and easier in front of everybody. "Penelope Garcia, you are under arrest for the murder of Jacob Franklin. Anything you say," placing the handcuffs around her wrists, he sighed. "I'm sorry that I have to do this in front of them."

She couldn't feel anything, she doesn't know how to exactly think right now. All she knows is that somebody is dead because she shot him. Three bullets came out from the handgun that she clenched with her hands. As Matt directed her over to his SUV, she got into the backseat and stared blankly at the team. Their expressions looked heavily burdened and depressed. She wonders if that's her facial expression right now as well.

. . .

 **Friday 1:49PM**

"You do understand the severity of the situation that we're in right now, don't you?" Emily asked Luke as she folded her hands together and placed them on top of her desk. "Why did you do it, Luke?"

Luke closed his eyes as he rubbed his temples. "I was angry, frustrated, and just tired of being a few steps behind him all the time." He glanced at Emily and Rossi, knowing that they would understand how he felt during that time. "Weren't you sick of it? Always being a few steps too late."

"The feeling is understandable," Rossi agreed. "But those feelings doesn't justify for us to overstep the boundaries as federal agents. There is a limit of what we can or cannot do. Kidnapping a suspect is something that's definitely on the 'cannot do' list."

"I'm sorry." Luke simply said.

"A little too late for the apology," Emily could sense the intense amount of paperwork, media coverage and demands that's coming toward their way. She adverted her attention over to her phone as soon as it alerted her of a text message. "Damn it." Emily covered her face out of frustration as she groaned.

Rossi looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"Jacob Franklin has been declared dead."

Luke's eyes widened. "What?" He stood up from his seat and shook his head violently. "No! That would mean that Penelope is going to be - " he stopped talking as soon as he saw Section Chief bringing her in through the bullpen in handcuffs. "What the heck.." Just as he rushed over to the door, Rossi grabbed hold of his arm. "Rossi..."

Rossi shook his head. "It'll be best if you stay in here before Cruz also tries to arrest you for kidnapping." Sooner or later, someone will come by and take Luke but if the team can delay the arrest - it's all for the better. "I'll check it out."

Emily placed her phone down. "Stay in the office with me, Luke. I am the only one that can protect you for now."

"That's not the point. I'm not the one that needs protecting!" Luke watched through the windows as the handcuffs were taken off of Penelope's wrists. "She doesn't deserve this. She isn't even supposed to be - "

"You should have thought of that before you went rogue, don't you think?!" Emily screamed back as she slammed her desk. With her eyes filled with impatience and anger, she nodded her head over to Rossi for him to leave the office. As soon as the both of them were alone, she looked at Luke. "You need to sit down and listen to me carefully. In a matter of minutes, somebody will take you away for interrogation. None of the members of the BAU can do it. We have been officially restricted from all investigation involving you and Penelope." She put the recording on her phone in front of him. "I need you to tell me everything that you did or said to Jacob Franklin before his death, all the way to the point where Penelope arrived."

Feeling defeated and relentless at the same time, Luke had no choice but to settle into the seat across from her as he cleared his throat. "It started when I called Anderson..."

. . .

 **Friday 2:01PM**

Rossi knocked on the door before walking into the room. As soon as he stepped in, he exhaled deeply to see not only Matt Cruz inside but there were also four fellow superiors. "Is this really necessary?"

Matt turned his head to look at him. "You know as much as I do that it is," he looked at the double sided mirror where Penelope was, sitting inside the interrogation room. "She killed someone and we need her statement."

"In self defense." Rossi corrected him.

"It doesn't seem like self defense," Lillian Young, an elderly superior who has worked for the FBI for over three decades, said in her husky voice. "From my understanding, she had Luke's location and decided to not disclose it with the team. Took her own vehicle and drove all the way to the motel. Within seconds of parking there, she shot her registered handgun three times." Adjusting her glasses as she glanced at Rossi with an arched eyebrow. "There was no time for her to register that there was a need for self defense. How did she know that Luke or possibly the witness was in trouble." She held up her hand when Rossi opened his mouth. "Don't say that they were screaming." Crossing her arms across her chest, she returned her attention to stare at Penelope through the glass. "You need to step outside, Agent David Rossi. You and the BAU are officially off the case as of today."

Rossi hated politics. The only reason why they would be taken off the case is because the FBI would be in bad press under the media's eyes. The FBI wants to handle this particular case under their own terms without letting anyone close disrupt the process. "Penelope Garcia isn't a killer. She can never be one. Have you seen her? She is the literal definition of a walking unicorn and rainbows. There is no doubt in my mind that she did what she had to do in order to save a fellow agent."

"Agent David Rossi," Lillian said in a more firm tone with her eyes glaring at him. "I am not going to repeat myself. You need to step outside right now."

Rossi doesn't like this one bit. He glanced at Penelope one last time before exiting out of the room. With his hands clenched out of frustration, he looked up to see the other members returning from the other crime scene. "Did you find out anything?"

"No." JJ answered before slamming her bag on top of her desk. "They won't let us know anything. As soon as the arrival of Matt, they immediately closed off everything in front of us."

Derek looked at his phone. "The coroner will text me."

"Are you sure?" Rossi asked. "She might refuse after seeing all the superiors here."

"She won't," Derek promised. "She loves Penelope as much as we do. She knows that we can help if she provides us the information."

Spencer sat down and looked at the closed binds from Emily's office. "How bad is it going to be for Luke?"

"Bad." Rossi replied. "Kidnapping a federal suspect as a federal agent is serious. Especially if the end results is having a FBI's Tech Analyst shooting him dead." Rossi checked the time on his watch. "Emily is going to try and talk to him first. As long as we know as much information on what happened like the superiors will, we can help with the case."

"How restricted are we going to be?" Tara questioned.

Stephen looked at them. "Not to the point where we can speak to neither of them, will it?"

Rossi shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

JJ put her head down on the desk as she sighed deeply. "Poor Penelope."

. . .

 **Friday 2:30PM**

Her hands and body hasn't stopped trembling since she fired the gun. She stared at her fingers, they have been cramping up because the trigger was hard to pull three times continuously. Penelope didn't dare to look at her own reflection, knowing very well that somebody is behind there. She isn't the victim this time, she is the suspect. Her heart feels as if it could drop on the ground any second.

The sound of the door unlocking and opening surprised her as she looked up to see a stranger stepping in. "Penelope Garcia, my name is Lillian Young. I will be interrogating you about the event's that happened today." Sitting across from her, Lillian opened the file in her hand. "You've been with the BAU for how many years?" Not wanting on a response, Lillian nodded her head as soon as she read the answer from the file. "Thirteen years. That's a long time."  
Penelope narrowed her eyes at the file folder, it's a lot thicker than she had thought. Of course, she had already took a peek of the history that the FBI has on her. "Agent Hotchner and Agent Morgan were the ones that brought me into the team."

"Invite the enemy instead of arresting the enemy," Lillian softly spoke as stared at Penelope. "I am not going to lie but I was one of the few that had disagreed with your presence in the team back then. Bringing in somebody who has the hacking skills enough to break into any system, seems a bit too dangerous for me."

"Yes, ma'am." Penelope said.

"Let's get to the point," she closed the file and leaned closer to the table between them. "How did you know Jacob Franklin?"

"I didn't know him." Penelope answered.

"I do believe that spending a few days with him is considering as knowing, don't you think?" Lillian questioned back.

Penelope couldn't believe her ears right now. "I was kidnapped," she said slowly. "I was a victim." For the first time, Penelope has openly called herself a "victim".

Lillian wrote some notes as she nodded her head. "Are you a victim now?"

"No." Penelope responded.

"How many days did you spend with him?"

"More than I would've liked."

Lillian sighed. "Please be specific."

"I'm not sure," Penelope said in an annoyed tone. "I was out of it half of the time."

"Four days." Lillian gave the answer instead. "In the four days that you were with him, what did he do to you?"

"Is this really necessary?" Penelope snapped.

Having enough of the delay that Penelope's causing, Lillian crossed her arms. "Actually, it is very necessary for me to do this. Do you want to know why?" She narrowed her eyes at Penelope as she continued talking. "Since you came back, your team hasn't properly interview or get a witness statement at all. Maybe it's because in a matter of two weeks, the BAU has been under extreme chaos. A lot more chaos that I, a superior in the FBI, who should have no business in being down here, can't even handle. Unlike your team members, I am going to get a proper statement about the kidnapping. I want to know every single bit and details that you know or have gone through recorded and written. Why? Because Miss Penelope Garcia, it is the law." Lillian exhaled deeply. "Now, what did he exactly do to you in the four days he kept you?"

Penelope closed her eyes, her hands started to tremble again. "He talked to me most of the time," feeling extremely uncomfortable as the memories were coming back, she wanted to leave the room right away. "He kept talking about how he was waiting for me to change. Become the kind of person he wants me to be, I never understood why he was like that. It wasn't until later in the first day I spent with him that I realized he was my stalker." She looked at her fingernails, trying to focus on something that could ease her mind. "For the last year, I had flowers sent to me in the BAU. At first, I thought it was harmless but when it became too much and scary, I tried to look for the stalker. It didn't get me anywhere. Most of the flowers had cards attached to it but it was all the same."

"What did the cards say?" Lillian asked as she wrote down everything that Penelope was telling her.

"You're as perfect as a field of daisies." Penelope cringed at the words.

"Did he confess to stalking you during your time together?"

During your time together. Why is this woman making it sound as if Penelope wanted to spend her time with someone like Jacob willingly? "Yes, he has repeatedly."

"What else happened, Miss Garcia?"

Penelope closed her eyes as she prepared herself to go into further details.

. . .

 **Friday 3:00PM**

"She's been in there for thirty minutes," Stephen noted as he flipped through a book that he wasn't even reading. "What is she doing? Making Penelope go through every single event involving Jacob?"

Rossi tapped his fingers against the desk. "Probably since we never really put in any statements or signatures regarding Penelope's kidnapping."

"We couldn't," Spencer explained. "She didn't want to see us when she was in the hospital. Prentiss instructed for us to be patient and that was what we were doing."

"I know that, we all do but the superiors don't." JJ said. "I can't believe Matt isn't doing anything about this. What is going to happen to them?"

Tara sighed. "More than likely, Luke is going to lose his job." She knows that the members aren't happy to hear that kind of results but what is already done can't be undone. At the end of the day, he did kidnap Jacob. "Penelope is the only one that I'm unsure of."

"Tech analyst who shot a federal suspect dead." Derek muttered under his breath. Never in the years of knowing her, he would think Penelope would do something so extreme. She has always has a thing about staying away from guns. "It's not like he didn't deserve it."

"We're with the Federal Internal Affairs," the team turned around to the front of the bullpen where a group of men were showing their badge to Agent Anderson Grant. "We are here to take Luke Alvez into questioning."

Anderson widened his eyes, glancing over at the members. "Uh, he isn't - "

"He's right here." Emily interrupted as she walked down the small steps with Luke by her side. "I am entrusting you with my team member."

"Don't worry," one of the Federal Internal Affairs men spoke. "We know what to do." He held out his hand in front of Emily as if he was waiting for her to hand him something. "His credentials and gun, please."

Emily sighed. "Is it really necessary?"

"Credentials and gun."

She bit her lower lip to keep herself from arguing back as she took out Luke's credentials and gun out. "When will he be back?"

"That depends," one of the men took out a pair of handcuffs as he took Luke's wrists. "If we can justify his actions or not." As soon as the handcuffs were locked and Luke was being taken away with the other guys, he looked at Emily and smirked. "But I'm not going give false hopes. It doesn't look good so count on him never coming back."

Emily scoffed at his smiling attitude over the whole situation. She drew out a deep breath before making her way over to the team. "I listened to what Luke had to say. Besides the fact of him intentionally beating Jacob Franklin up, there was no other bodily harm done."

"What do you honestly think?" Spencer asked.

"It's not a secret that the BAU tend to go a bit rogue when circumstances get personal," Emily said. "Maybe they can overlook the issue and suspend him for a couple of weeks." She took out her phone, showing them the recording between her and Luke earlier in the office. "Do you want to hear it?"  
JJ nodded her head. "Yeah, it'll give us something to do."

Derek looked down at his phone as soon as he was alerted of a new text message. "It's the coroner, she's done with the autopsy. She's willing to share some information before the official team gets the results."

"I'll come with you." Spencer quickly said.

. . .

 **Friday 3:46PM**

"Two gunshots in the back," the coroner showed Derek and Spencer the bullet holes on the back. "One of the bullets that I found traveled all the way to the heart which ultimately is the cause of death."

"Is that even possible?" Derek couldn't believe that one of the actual bullets hit his heart. "I didn't even know that."

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows together as he stared at Jacob's body. "It's a rarity for certain cases."

"It just had to happen now." Derek rolled his eyes. "Can you tell if it's justifiable gunshots for self defense?"

The coroner sighed as she held onto the charts. "Honestly, Jacob had his back facing Penelope the whole time. He didn't see her coming so the shots can't exactly be determined as justifiable. I'm sorry, I wish I could be more of a help."

"How are we going to help Luke and Penelope when every option is becoming a dead end?" Derek has never felt more useless than this moment right now. His best friend is being interrogated for a murder that should be considered as a clean self defense action.

"What about the witness?" The coroner asked. "Wasn't there a witness during the whole situation? I heard that she was barely there for two minutes but she was there."

Spencer's eyes widened. "We forgot about her."

"We can't take her statement," Derek explained. "We've been restricted. Even if we try to get her statement, it'll be nothing."

"Well, aren't the superiors going to get her statement?" She placed the chart down next to the autopsy table as she looked at them. "If they really do want to put Penelope and Luke into prison for what they did, they need every evidence they can find. It's not a secret that there was a witness."

"I agree. Wait - " Spencer blinked. "Do the higher superiors really want to put Penelope and Luke in prison?"

Derek scoffed. "If it can benefit them in front of the media, they may do so."

"So what? We're just going stand around and wait for them to get the witness statement?" They're already taking too much time to interrogate Penelope and who knows how long they will take with Luke. "Fine. Do we at least know where she is?"

The coroner looked at the agents. "What are you talking about? Isn't she in the building right now?"

Spencer shook his head. "No. As soon as we were called off the investigation, we had to get in the car and leave the crime scene. I don't even remember seeing her there. Do you?"

Derek sighed. "No."

. . .

 **Friday 4:00PM**

As the interrogation continued on, Lillian could see how tired and agitated Penelope was slowly becoming. "Why didn't you inform the team about Luke's location once you found it?"

"I thought I could convince Luke before he did something he would regret."

"Why would you think your words would make him stop instead of the team? Seven months. Every single one of you spent seven months together." Lillian narrowed her eyes at Penelope. "What makes you so special?"

Penelope looked back at her. "Because I can understand where Luke was coming from."

"I don't think that one man who had connections between you and Luke Alvez would justify his actions or yours." Lillian concluded. "He's a federal agent who knows the rule book by memory. He knows that kidnapping is against the law, let alone kidnapping a federal suspect. He intentionally beat Jacob Franklin over and over again despite knowing the consequences that could happen." She scoffed and shook her head at her. "And don't get me started on you. Who are you? You're a technical analyst for the FBI. In other terms, you're also a federal employee for the us. Shooting somebody with their backs facing you is illegal. You didn't inform of your presence to anyone. Want to know what I think? When you drove into the motel's parking lot, you saw nothing but the man that has done you harm right in front of you. That's when rage took over your body and you couldn't control it. That was your one and only chance standing right there and you had to do something. You knew the rules, you knew the law." Lillian knocked her fists onto the table. "But you didn't care because you just wanted to revenge so that's what you did. _Bang, bang, bang_! You shot him dead without even a single thought." She leaned back into her seat, closing her notepad as she has finally come into a decision on what they're going to do about Penelope's actions. "Understanding where you're coming from doesn't mean you can go off kidnapping and murdering people. You're both smart of enough to know the difference between what's wrong and right."

Penelope can only manage to scoff at the amount of time the word justify has came up during this interrogation. "Justify our actions? Know the difference between right and wrong?" Penelope's eyes started watering as she stared at the woman. "You don't understand where Luke and I are coming from, not at all. You have a desk job as much as I do, that's the only thing we have in common. What happened to me and what I felt during those four days, you will never be able to understand those feelings. Have you been kidnapped? Have you ever felt so cold that you can literally hear your bones cracking inside when you try to move? Have you been sexually assaulted? Do you know how many showers I took afterwards?! How many water usage I must've spent in the hospital after scrubbing myself constantly?! Because no matter how many showers or baths I do take, I still feel extremely dirty at the end."

"Penelope Garcia - "

"No! You are going to listen to me!" Penelope screamed on top of her lungs. "What about Luke? How do you think he felt when he stood in the middle of a dirt road, watching as his dead murdered grandmother being carried into the back of a coroner's van? Do you have any family members, ma'am? Have you lost one? How do you think you would feel when the one and only family member, the one that has taken care of you since you were alone, died because you weren't there to save them? Luke Alvez was busy watching and protecting me. He never thought that Jacob Franklin would go that crazy and murder his grandmother. That feeling of guilt and anger plagued Luke out of nowhere and it's going to be with him until the day he dies." She cleared her throat, trying to keep her emotions under control as she clenched onto the edges of the table. "Are you going to sit across from me and tell me that you're not glad that a guy like Jacob Franklin is dead? Because if I am going to be honest, I am glad he's dead. Is my body trembling over that I killed a person? Yes. Do I regret shooting someone like him? Absolutely not."

"Are you telling me right now that there is absolutely no guilt over what you did?"

Penelope blinked her eyes several times before confidently answering. "Yes." She cleared her throat as she realized something important just now. A thousand rocks has been lifted off her shoulders. She doesn't have to turn around every five seconds, worrying if today's the day she is kidnapped again. She doesn't have to worry about being trapped in the same room with him. She doesn't have to worry for the safety of her own friends over one particular guy. Penelope clenched her hands together as she stared at Lillian. "You don't understand how lifted I feel right now, ma'am. The fear that I felt for weeks because of him were the worst days of my life. The things he said or did to me will forever replay in my mind. He has taken so much away from me but that can never compare to the families and women he has killed in the past. We only know of ten bodies but what if there are more out there? He has named over five girls when he was in this exact room. A man like Jacob Franklin is the kind of man that shouldn't have been born in this world. He spent his time and money to stalk countless of women, forcing and creating them into their versions. If he raped me once, how many times did he rape the other women? How many days, weeks, or even months did he keep the others before killing them? Instead of four days, what if he had me for longer? Would I be able to be sitting across from you right now? Being interrogated for something that had to be done? If you want to know what really happened, I'll tell you. I parked the car and heard screaming. It was Luke's voice, demanding Jacob to step away from him and the woman behind him. He was threatened, a federal agent and an innocent civilian. Yes, I took the gun out of the glove compartment with the intent to shoot. With these trembling hands, I aimed at him without a single thought. What was I supposed to do? Announce my existence? How are you sure that he would turn around?" She sighed. "I apologize, ma'am that I can't sit here and agree with what you have said in the last two hours. Justify our actions? Knowing between right and wrong? We don't need your understanding nor consideration on if we should get to keep our jobs or not. It's the last thing we're concerned about.? If you believe that you won't react the same way as Luke and I did for what we went through, go ahead and do what you have to do."

. . .

 **Friday 7:20PM**

The team has been sitting and standing around the bullpen for hours, waiting for Penelope's interrogation to be finished. As the minutes go by, the more anxious and paranoid they become. This isn't a small mistake where the FBI can overlook with just a single warning and signature. The whole process throughout this problem is more than just one paperwork. If Luke officially gets terminated as an agent, he isn't just out of a career but he might spend time behind bars for the kidnapping. And if Penelope can't prove that her shooting was a clean cut self defense move, she will also be charged and behind bars. Federal prison isn't exactly the greatest place for people who have worked for the FBI before.

"Is Luke's interrogation done?" JJ asked as soon as Emily returned from her office. "What are the Internal Affairs planning?" Everybody knows that people who work for the Internal Affairs are just snobs with agendas.

"They just finished," Emily said. "I don't know the results though. They won't release it to me until they get the approval."

Spencer looked up from his book. "Is he staying in their office or coming back here?"

"I don't know." Emily answered as she crossed her arms. "If something happens to Luke and Penelope, I have friends from Interpol that can help."

Rossi nodded his head. "Yeah. We can't possibly let something happen to them." As soon as those words left his mouth, Section Chief and the four fellow friends walked into the bullpen. "And the devils are here."

"Unit Chief Prentiss," Lillian Young stepped up with her notes and Penelope's file folder in her arms. "It's been a pleasure."

Shaking her hands, Emily glanced over their shoulders, waiting to see if Penelope would walk into the bullpen. "I hope you got the information that you needed, ma'am."

"I did, we all did." Lillian gestured to the other three superiors. "You will hear about the decision with the next day."

"We hope to hear good results," Emily said. "Where is Penelope?"

Matt Cruz cleared his throat. "She will be in her apartment for now."

"Her apartment?" Derek repeated. "What do you mean she will be there for now? Her apartment is empty, there's literally nothing inside there. Jacob Franklin took everything when he had her. Do you expect her to sleep on the floor?"

"That's not our problem, Agent Morgan." Lillian responded. "She will be under supervision with guards downstairs of her building. No one is allowed to visit her until we come with a decision on what to do. If she does end up being charged, you can visit her in court. If not, she will be suspended for three weeks."

Derek scoffed. "That's ridiculous."

"Ridiculous?" Lillian narrowed her eyes at him. "What happened today will be broadcast on every single media site and channel as their main headline. Their choices has cost the FBI's reputation, making us look like a joke." She took out her cell phone to check some of the emails she may have missed during the interrogation. "We aren't meant to be considered as a joke. We are federal agents who should know what to do and what to not do."

"If you're more worried about being considered as a joke than the lives of your own, maybe you shouldn't be a superior." JJ stepped in, glaring at them. "What do you do on the days you come in for work? Sit behind your desk, sign paperwork, demand orders through that little phone of yours?" She compared the team's clothes and shoes with the superiors as they stand next to each other. "Neither of you have been out on the field, have you? You don't understand the meaning of trying to save each other's lives with every single minute of the day ticking down. At the end of the day, we don't care if we look like a joke. What's more important to us is the safety of our members. Whatever choices they have made, it wasn't to benefit themselves but for each other. Any of us would do the same exact thing if we were to rewind this day all over again. Having honor and trust is more what the FBI should stand as than worrying over if we are looked at as a joke in the public's eyes."

Lillian could only smile as she nodded her head. "That's funny. Penelope Garcia said the same exact thing before she left."

. . .

 **Friday 9:57PM**

Penelope laid flat on the floor of her apartment as she stared blankly at the ceiling. She never noticed how clean and white they were. Maybe because during the time she was in her apartment, she was more focus on the vivid, bright colors of her walls. Now, for the first time in ten years, there is absolutely nothing in this place. Except for the box of wool and old pictures of her and the team all over the floor. She scoffed at the realization that the old Penelope Garcia would be having a panic attack over how empty this place was. Right now, she could careless about anything. In a day or so, she will find out what her ultimate fate will be.

She adverted her attention over to the windows when she heard some hitting sounds occurring quietly. Knitting her eyebrows together, she sat up on the floor. It almost sounds like rocks are hitting her windows. Her hand reaches over to the landline phone, ready to call the guards downstairs about the noise. As her hand start dialing, she gasped once Luke showed his face near the windows. "Luke?!"

Luke sheepishly smiled as he waved. "Hi."

Making her way over to open the windows, she stepped back as he climbed into the apartment. "What are you doing here?"

Clearing his throat as he closed the windows, he sighed. "I was assigned to be under house arrest until Internal Affairs make a decision about my fate."

"Same." Penelope said as she clenched her hands together.

Luke stood awkwardly as he looked around. He has never been in her apartment with her actually inside. There were only two occasions he was here and that was with Derek. "How do you feel?"

"Tired."

"Penelope," he hesitated a bit. "I honestly don't know what to say. Since the moment you shot that gun, immediate guilt ran over my body. Someone like you, shooting someone just because of me - I can't get past this feeling of overwhelming hatred for myself. I've been asking myself so many questions all day. Why did I have to do it? Why did I kidnap him? Why couldn't I just shoot him as soon as I had him alone? Why did I miss my first shot? How could I get you involved into this situation?" Tears brimmed against his eyes as he stared at her, she looks as if she hasn't been able to sleep in a while. "That fearful expression on your face as soon as the gun was fired, I couldn't get it out of my head. Because of me, you can spend time behind bars. What am I supposed to do then? How am I suppose to carry on - " he froze on his spot when Penelope reached over, kissing him softly on the lips. As she pulled away, he blinked in confusion as he stared back at her. "What was that for?"

"For weeks, you were the one to always comfort me when I blamed myself for what happened. You were the one that reassured me that it wasn't my fault for Bernice's death. You were the one that reassured me that what happened to me, wasn't my own fault but his." Penelope took another step closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Tonight I will be the one to do that." Taking a deep breath as she felt him wrapping his arms around her, embracing each other tightly as she spoke. "Luke Alvez, what happened today isn't your fault. You did what you believed in and that's what matters and I don't blame you for it. I don't care about what I did or what you did." She tightened her arms around him as she leaned her head against his chest. "You've saved me so many times before. I guess, today was the day that I saved you."

Luke cracked his first genuine smile in days. "You did save me."

She pulled away, looking at him as they stood in the dark. "Is it wrong?"

He moved a strand of hair away from her face as he focused his attention on her. "Is what wrong?"

"That I'm not worried for what is going to happen to me. I am more worried about you than anyone else right now."

Luke shook his head. "No." He softly caressed her face before inching his face closer to Penelope's, their eyes gazing at each other. Even in the dark and with the moon's help, her eyes were glistening so bright. "Because I am more worried for you than myself."

Penelope glanced between his eyes and lips as she breathed slowly, he was coming closer to her face. Kissing him abruptly earlier was one thing but the fact that they were now staring at each other like this, she doesn't have enough courage to lean in and do it again. Before she could stop the words from coming out, she clenched onto the end of his shirt. "Kiss me."

She didn't have to tell him more than once. Without a moment of hesitation, Luke placed both of his hands on her face as he leaned in, kissing her slowly at first. As the minutes continue to go by, that's when he knew that he didn't just want to kiss her like this. He could feel her tugging at his shirt before he grabbed onto her sides, picking her up so she could sit on the kitchen counter. Pulling away, he breathed heavily as he stared at her - making sure if this is what Penelope wanted. As soon as she nodded, giving him permission, he took off his shirt and pulled her in for another kiss.

This time, the kiss wasn't just soft like the others times. As her nails dug into his back and his hands unbuttoning her shirt slowly, the kiss was filled with passion and patience for each other. They were taking their time, never wanting to let go of each other throughout the whole night.

. . .

 **Saturday 12:40AM**

Closing the motel door behind her, she drew out a deep breath as she kicked the trash around as she walked into the bathroom. Turning on the lights, she crossed her arms and tilted her head as she stared at the pictures that surround the walls. Pictures of Luke Alvez and Penelope Garcia were taped for her viewing. Opening her bag, she took out more pictures that she had just took about an hour ago. Finding a blank area on the wall, she bent down and taped it on the wall. Arching an eyebrow as she smirked and stared at the photos, she nodded her head in amusement.

The other pictures that were already pasted on the wall seem to have been taken starting a couple months ago. The new pictures were taken from what seems like the building across from Penelope's apartment. Penelope was sitting on the kitchen counter with her clothes unbuttoned, Luke standing shirtless in front of her as they kissed. Continuous photos from where they moved over to the floor and all the way to every single moment shared between the both of them tonight were also taken.

The sound of her phone ringing distracted her attention as she took it out from her pockets. "Hello," she answered as she continue to look around the bathroom walls. "Who did you say you were? Agent Derek Morgan? Yes." Pausing as she listened to Derek Morgan speak through the line. "Yes, I am the witness from the incident earlier. Ah, of course. I will gladly help out your team. I wish I hadn't knocked on the door during that time but Agent Alvez and Agent Garcia saved my life. I should return the favor. " She smiled as she walked out of the bathroom. "I will be there when I can." As soon as she hung up, she smirked at herself at the mirror before walking over to the mini fridge, taking out the ice bucket that she originally had in the room already, she start to make herself a glass of whiskey.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Saturday 7:00AM**

Penelope opened her eyes as soon as the landline phone started ringing in the middle of her sleep. Groaning as she crawled around the floor for the phone, she cleared her throat. "Hello?"

"Why aren't you answering the door?"

She froze and stared straight at the apartment door. "What do you mean?"

Derek arched an eyebrow as he placed his fist on the door, knocking it four times so she could hear it. "What I mean is that I've been knocking on the door in the last twenty minutes and you're not answering it. Come on, Pen. Open the door."

Penelope silently gasped as soon as she realized that she was naked. Her eyes adverted over to Luke, who's also naked and sleeping soundly. "Hold on." Hanging up the phone, she rushed around the floor for the clothes that was thrown around from last night. Kicking Luke on the legs, she spoke in a hush tone. "Morgan's here..."

"Hmm..." Luke turned around in his sleep, the hardwood floor not providing much comfort at all. "What did you say?"

"Morgan's here..." Penelope repeated as she button her shirt and pulling on her skirt.

Luke immediately opened his eyes in shock as he sat up. "What?!"

"Shhhh!" Penelope's eyes widened as she quickly covered his mouth. "He's waiting outside the door." She watched as he grabbed his shirt and pants, he took a deep breath before dashing straight into the bathroom. As soon as the coast was clear, Penelope made her way over to the door. "What are you doing here?"

Derek narrowed his eyes at her before he entered the apartment. "Prentiss wants us to be at the BAU by 8. I tried calling your cellphone but I remembered that Superior Lillian Young confiscated it." The superiors are worried that Penelope would buy an one way ticket and vanish in thin air if she had her technology back. Of course, Penelope is capable of something like that but she wouldn't do such a thing. "Tara is heading over to Luke's right now. Prentiss thinks that the superiors will make a decision by the time we arrive at the BAU."

"Oh," Penelope forgot about that within a few hours, her career could be over instantly. The same goes with Luke. "Let's go."

Derek laughed. "You don't want to change?"

"Baby, I don't have clothes here." Penelope moved her arms around the empty apartment.

"That's what I thought," Derek handed her a bag with a smile. "JJ bought these for you before she came home last night. Don't worry, she chose the brightest colors there was."

Penelope couldn't help but smile at their generosity. "Alright, let me go change."

Derek nodded his head. "I'll wait here."

"Cool." Penelope cleared her throat as she slowly walked into the bathroom and locking the door. "Oh my God."

Luke was sitting in the bathtub as he cracked a smile. "This is crazy."

"It is," Penelope softly replied. "We can't just let the team know about this. It has to be a secret for now. So much has happened and I don't think we exactly have the best timing in the world."

"A little happiness over the chaos can be considered as nice news for them." Luke reasoned as he looked around the bathtub, the apartment isn't exactly empty. Before she came in, he had counted over seven shampoo and conditioner bottles and almost eighteen bath bombs near the sink. A woman's bathroom is definitely different from a man's.

Penelope looked at herself in the mirror. "If we end up not being in prison, maybe we can tell them. Double the happiness."

Luke stared at her. "Do you want to tell them or just wait it out? We don't even know what exactly this," gesturing his hand between them. "...is." He shrugged his shoulders as he got out of the bathtub. "Maybe we can wait it out."

"Yeah, I agree." Penelope smiled. She started to notice how close they are within each other again. God, he's more sexier after waking up. Her eyes widened as soon as that thought ran through her mind. "I need to change."

"Okay." Luke stepped back, obviously noting at how Penelope was staring at him. "Go ahead."

"Go back into the bathtub and close the curtains."

"Are you serious?" Luke quietly laughed. "Penelope, we saw everything of each other last night."

Penelope frowned. "Please."

He nodded his head as he got back into the bathtub and closed the shower curtains as told. "I'll see you back in the BAU."

"How did you get here?" She was so immersed in their exchange last night that she forgot to ask how he managed to escape while being under house arrest.

"Patrol cops aren't the brightest people in the field yet," Luke answered as he closed his eyes for a bit. "And they never installed the tracking device around my ankles so it's not my fault. I wanted to see you and that's that."

Penelope finished changing and sighed. "What are you going to say? Tara is heading to your place right now."

"I'll think of something." Luke opened the curtains and smiled. "Doesn't this make us sound like teenage kids who are in love and trying to hide their secretive relationship from their parents?"

She laughed as she threw her old clothes in the corner of the bathroom floor. "I'll see you later." Opening the door, Penelope head over to the kitchen where Derek was waiting. "Alright."

Derek smiled. "With whatever decision they make, don't worry about it. I called somebody for help last night and I think she can be the decision breaker for them."

"Who?"

"You'll see." Derek put his arm around her shoulders as he kissed the top of her head. As they walked toward the door, he stopped at the doorway and furrowed his eyebrows together. "Where's Luke?"

Penelope knit her eyebrows together. "Home?"

"Okay." Using his free hand, he took a black sock from his back pockets before throwing it over to the direction of the bathroom. "See you later, Luke!"

An echoing sound coming from the bathroom was automatically heard. "Okay..."

Her eyes widened as soon as Derek started hysterically laughing before he closed the apartment door. "How'd you know?"

"Well," Derek looked at his best friend. "Tara actually went to Luke's first. When she said that his place was empty, we all assumed that he can only be at one place. And when I came here, knocking on your door over thirty times, I knew something was up." He held onto Penelope's hand as they walked down the stairs. "That black sock was the one thing that confirmed it for me." Derek shrugged his shoulders as he laughed. "I just didn't thought that something was definitely up."

Penelope groaned to herself as she covered her face in humiliation. "How? Why a black sock?"

Derek opened the passenger side door for her. "Baby Girl, you would never wear black socks."

. . .

 **Saturday 8:30AM**

Emily leaned against the wall as she watched Section Chief Matt Cruz and the other four superiors walked into the bullpen. "Hello."

"Lovely to see you this morning, Unit Chief." Lillian greeted as she shook hands with her.

"I'll find out if it'll be truly lovely in a minute, wouldn't we?" Emily retorted as she guided them over to the conference room where the others are. "You've met the team."

"Yes," Lillian glanced between everybody, her gaze stopping at particularly Luke and Penelope. "It seems as if the team has decided to not take upon a new case until this issue is settled down."

Emily nodded her head. "Section Chief has approved of a break."

"I see," Lillian opened the folder in her hand as she sighed. "Let's get down to business then."

Penelope sighed out of nervousness as she clenched her hands together. She never thought that she could possibly go to prison for murder. Maybe for hacking into federal systems or releasing top secret information for the world but never murder. It hasn't crossed her mind that she would even go to prison in the first place. She blinked her eyes when she realized that Luke was holding onto her hand, looking up and giving him a brief smile. What about Luke? He was just brought into the BAU after being in the Task Force. With losing Bernice already, he can't possibly be out of a career in the same week span.  
Luke could feel the intensity from Penelope by the way she was clenching onto his hand. Honestly, if he is out of a career and spend some time for the kidnapping - he doesn't care. The idea of Penelope being behind bars and away from the team that she spent over a decade with, it hurts more. Her presence in the team is a lot more important than his.

"We acknowledge Jacob Franklin's criminal actions and the damage he has done to this team, particularly toward Penelope Garcia is greatly tremendous. That still doesn't change the fact that Agent Alvez kidnapped him while Jacob was under custody. If you hadn't done what you did, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation right now. And Technical Analyst Penelope wouldn't have shot the gun then."

"Can we please get to the point?" Rossi asked. He isn't exactly up for the superiors running down the whole issue.

"Wait," Spencer said. "You called them by their title." He narrowed his eyes at them. "You wouldn't call them by agent or technical analyst if they weren't going to stay with the FBI."

Lillian cleared her throat as she nodded her head. "After careful consideration and a phone call during our meeting last night, we have come to a conclusion that Penelope Garcia's shot was in self defense. With not enough time to announce her presence, she had to fire her gun in order to save one of her own. The forensic team has also given us ballistics report, stating by the way Jacob was charging toward Luke and the witness - the bullets can prove that it was a self defense act."

"Oh, thank goodness." JJ breathed in slowly as her hands stopped shaking.

"We do want Penelope to attend therapy sessions," Lillian added. "Given what she went through in the last few weeks, we understand that certain things remain traumatic. Until she receives the okay from the psychologist, she will be on leave from work." She looked at Penelope as she handed over the paperwork for her signature. "We just want to make sure that she'll be 100% once she returns."

Penelope looked at the papers. "I'm fine."

Emily adverted her attention over to Penelope. "You should attend the sessions, Garcia. It'll be for the best." Knowing how Penelope is, she can feel fine right now but if something comes up that can trigger the horror that Jacob has caused, it'll be better if she attended these sessions beforehand.

As much as she wanted to disagree, she knew that no one can argue with Emily Prentiss. Penelope simply nodded her head as she leaned over, signing the paperwork before handing it back to Lillian. "What about Luke?"

"Agent Alvez will also be on leave, suspended leave for his actions as a federal agent." Lillian handed him another set of paperwork. "Attending a couple of training courses during the suspended leave."

Luke arched an eyebrow as he scanned through the paperwork. The FBI wants him to take five training courses, including the physical course? "And that's it? I'll be able to get back in the field as soon as these courses are done?"

"Yes, Agent Alvez." Lillian took out another piece of paper. "A therapy session will also need to be done before then."

"What?" Luke couldn't believe this. "Why would I need to take these sessions?"

Lillian handed him the pen. "We haven't forgotten about the incident where you were stabbed over ten times. And considering the recent death that you're going through, a few therapy sessions is the nicest we can do right now."

Finding no point in trying to get out of it, Luke took the pen and signed the paper. "When will we start these sessions?"

"I'll have to look through my schedule but possibly as early as next week," a woman walked into the conference room with a smile plastered on her face. Placing her handbag down on the table, she held her hand toward Emily. "Unit Chief Prentiss, I've heard a lot of things about you."

Emily shook hands with her as she knit her eyebrows. "I know you," she looked around in confusion. "Have we met before?"

"I'm Doctor Olivia Davis," she looked at everybody else as she giggled. "I'm actually the witness from the motel."

Luke snapped his fingers. "It is you!" He made his way over to her and chuckled. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Olivia smiled. "All thanks to you and," she turned her attention over to Penelope. "And Miss Garcia." Making her way over to her, she held her hand out. "Thank you for saving my life."

Penelope lightly laughed as she shook hands with her. "You're welcome."

Lillian closed her folder. "Doctor Davis has been working with the FBI for a little over a year. She also is the one that helped us with the case, telling us what happened after she came into the motel room. It's actually her decision to have you both attend therapy before you return back to work." She smiled as she looked over at Matt. "Section Chief, I hope you agree with our decisions."

"Of course," Matt quickly replied. "As long we still get to keep the team together, everything is fine by me." He glanced over at Emily. "Right, Unit Chief?"

Is there any other choice that she has? Emily smiled briefly before nodding her head. "Keeping Penelope and Luke with us is good enough. We will make sure to follow through with the therapy sessions and training courses."

Lillian smiled. "That's lovely to hear."

Penelope exhaled deeply as soon as the superiors left the room. With her hand clenched over her heart, she looked at the team. "That was crazy."

Derek clasped his hands together before a bright smile covered his face. "Thank you for helping us out, Doctor."

"Please," she pulled her hair to the one side as she spoke. "...call me Olivia. It's not my office so no need to be so formal." She glanced over at Luke and Penelope. "I am looking forward to our first sessions together. I will call you both individually on the perfect days for you to come in." Grabbing her bag, she smiled once again. "As for now, I will be in my office. It's on downstairs."

"Thank you." Rossi said as she walked out of the room. "Who would've known? The witness was a FBI's psychologist?"

Derek laughed. "Coroner helped out a lot," he explained. "She was so worried over Penelope that she snuck off and took a peek at the witness's name when one of the superiors came for the autopsy results. She recognized the name immediately and told me about her."

Penelope sighed out of relief. "I should treat her out for a drink."

"You should treat everybody out for a drink," JJ said. "It's finally over." Without saying much, everybody caught on what she meant. After weeks of constant chaos, no one was in danger anymore. Jacob Franklin's dead. Luke and Penelope aren't being punished too severely for what they did. The team can definitely start off this week long break with a drink celebration."

Hating to burst the fun that the team hasn't felt in a while, Luke cracked a small smile as he spoke. "There's something I must do first."

. . .

 **Sunday 9:00PM**

After a day of greeting and bidding goodbye to the incoming guests, Luke collapsed onto the couch as he took a deep breath. The wake and funeral took practically the whole day. He never knew that his grandmother knew so much people in her life. Throughout his childhood, she only spoke of her market friends. People who have stated that they're friends with his parents or grandmother kept coming in. It's almost crazy how much love and care that everybody else felt when Bernice Alvez was still alive.

Luke smiled when Roxy climbed onto the couch, putting her hand on his lap. "I know, baby. I miss her too." When Luke's busy with certain cases, Roxy is the one that spent the most time with his grandmother. With her gone, it's almost as if Roxy has felt the missing existence in the family. "She's probably looking down at us right now, complaining that we haven't eaten right."

Roxy whined as she moved around on the couch.

"I know, baby." Just as Luke closed his eyes, the doorbell rang again. Groaning as he got up, he opened the door in surprise to see the whole team standing there. "Hey."

"We just wanted to come by," Spencer said. "And check up on you."

"Thanks," he opened the door wider for them. "There's food everywhere." The other guests that had arrived kept giving him food. Most are lasagna and he doesn't exactly know how he'll ever be able to finish that. "You really didn't have to come."

Rossi smiled. "Don't be silly."

Luke closed the door and sighed. "A lot of people were here earlier."

JJ crossed her arms. "We saw, the parking was packed." She looked at the food dishes on the table. "Did you eat yet?"

"Not hungry at the moment," Luke answered. "Be my guest and take some of the dishes home. I'm just here with Roxy, we'll never be able to eat this much."

Emily leaned over and grabbed a fresh lasagna dish. "I'll take this one."

Luke laughed as the team started dividing the food with each other. He turned his attention over to Derek, who was staring at him the whole time since he walked in. "Derek.."

Derek could see the nervousness coming from Luke's eyes. "Don't worry. I haven't said a word about yesterday's eventful morning to them yet. Penelope would kill me if I did."

"Thanks," Luke said. "We're just not ready to expose something like that. With everything that's been going on, it's best if we just keep to ourselves."

"The danger's over," Derek reassured him. "Penelope is really safe this time. The only thing we have to worry about is her mental health. She seems fine and happy but if she is going to return to this line of work, I can already tell she isn't mentally prepared. Maybe the therapy sessions is the silver lining and once she's back, we can finally relax."

"Are you staying with us as a team?" Luke asked.

"No," Derek chuckled. "I've been back long enough. Savannah and the baby is waiting for me and I honestly can't wait until I wrap my arms around them. Working with the team and being out on the field again was honestly great. I missed the rush but it can't compare to watching your little kid grow up, you know? Maybe in 2-3 years time, I'll slowly come back. Take a desk job or whatever."

Luke nodded his head as he laughed. Someone like Derek Morgan, he can never imagine him sticking with a desk job. "It's been really nice working with you."

"Likewise, Alvez." Derek agreed. "We may not get along sometimes, I learned a lot about you and it truly makes me glad to say that I consider you as a friend. And knowing that Penelope is with you, I know everything will be alright. She trusts you and that's all that matters."

"Thanks." Luke smiled as he looked around. "Where is she?"

Derek checked the time on his watch. "She should be back in her apartment. She wanted to set up her living room before she came here."

. . .

 **Sunday 10:00PM**

Luke finished cleaning up the kitchen and dining room when the doorbell rang. Making his way over, he couldn't but chuckle as soon as he opened the door. "What are you doing here so late?"

Penelope softly smiled as she walked in. "Did everybody already leave?"

"Yeah," Luke closed the door and followed her into the kitchen. "They didn't want to stay any longer so they left." He watched as she placed down a couple bags onto the table. "What's all of this?"

"Have you eaten?"

"No," Luke answered. "I'm not really hungry."

"That's a shame," Penelope took one of the containers out of the bag and nervously smiled as she opened the lid. "Ta-da!"

Luke arched an eyebrow and looked at her. "Did you make this?" It was rice and beans, his known favorite.

"I tried," Penelope said. "That day at the hospital when I brought the food that she made, I tried to remember what the taste was like when I was making it earlier." She took a spoonful and held it out for him to eat. "It's not perfect but I honestly feel like it's almost the same. Of course, I can never get Bernice's flavor or her cooking right off the bat but I just thought that maybe, just maybe today you wanted to eat this kind of food again."

"Penelope..." Luke was completely taken back by this sweet gesture. "I don't know what to say."

She held the spoon closer to his face. "Maybe that you like it after giving it a try."

Luke laughed as he took a bite of the rice and beans. His eyes immediately beamed in happiness and awe as he chewed. "It's amazing." He winked at her while chuckling. "Not as amazing as my abuela's though."

"Good," Penelope happily replied. "I wasn't trying to be as amazing as hers anyway." She took out the other containers consisting of fruits and dessert. "I can't make the pork because well, you know." She opened the lids and looked at him. "Eat."

"You should eat with me," Luke held out the chair for her to sit. "Come on."

Penelope sat down. "When do you start your training courses?"

Luke took another spoonful of the food. "Tomorrow."

"Will it be the same as before?"

"I don't know about that," Luke chuckled. "I graduated the academy a decade ago. The FBI must've changed their training courses by then." He watched Penelope as she snacked on some of the fruits. "What about you? Are you nervous about the therapy sessions?"

Penelope shrugged her shoulders. "I do love talking but I'm not sure about spilling everything that I went through all over again to a complete stranger." She handed him a slice of an apple. "Why was she at the motel?"

"I'm not sure," Luke furrowed his eyebrows together. "That was odd, wasn't it?"

"Should we ask about it?" Penelope asked.

Luke chuckled. "Maybe it's not a big deal." He cleared his throat as he finished the slice of apple. "I spoke to Derek earlier."

"Oh." Penelope scratch her neck out of nervousness. "That was humiliating, wasn't it?" She smiled over at Roxy, who was asleep by Luke's foot. "So, I wasn't going to ask this because maybe I don't know how to approach this kind of topic or possibly wrong timing."

"Ask me about what?" Luke closed the lid to the rice and beans as he got up to wash his hands at the sink.

"Us." Penelope whispered softly so he wouldn't hear her.

"Excuse me?" Luke cleaned off his hands with a towel and slowly paced his steps toward her. "I couldn't hear you."

Penelope checked the time on her watch. "Nothing, never mind." She stood up from the chair and started to grab her jacket. "I should get going and - " Penelope stopped talking when she felt his arms wrapped around her. "What's this for?"

"Just wanted to hold you in my arms," Luke muttered softly near her ear which sent chills down her spine. "Thank you for cooking this for me." He turned her around so they could face each other, tightening his grip around her waist. "You want to know what this is?"

Penelope tried her best to breathe calmly as she looked at him. "Yes." She has noticed his brown eyes before but never like this. As those beautiful brown eyes stare back at her, she could feel her legs becoming weak. It definitely wasn't helping that as they're standing this close to each other, Luke was caressing his thumb on lower back. "What is _this_?"

Luke leaned forward and shrugged. "Tension?"

She rolled her eyes and tried to pull away. "I'm being serious."

Not willing to let her go, Luke pulled Penelope even closer so their faces are inches away from one another. Without another word, he softly kissed her on the lips. "Penelope Garcia," he muttered in a hush tone. "Let's officially date starting now."

"Date?" Penelope couldn't hide her smile. "We must suck at dating then. We skipped first and second base and went straight to third last night."

Luke laughed. "Seven months of sexual tension led to what happened last night."

"Sexual tension?" Penelope arched an eyebrow. "I'm not sure about that." Just as she was about to grab another fruit to eat, she screamed in surprise when Luke picked her up before pushing her against the wall. "What do you think you're doing, newbie?"

"Newbie?" Luke smiled at the nickname returning blissfully toward his ears. With his mouth near her ear, he playfully whispered. "Is this the obvious sexual tension that you won't admit?"

Penelope could just melt with only his voice. She forced herself to look at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact with him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Luke smirked. "Alright then." Walking back over to the couch, he leaned against the armrest and settled down with his eyes closed.

She couldn't believe that he actually walked away. Narrowing her eyes at him, Penelope softly sat down next to him, playing with her hair as she wait for him to open his eyes. After a few minutes of complete silence, she could practically hear Luke snoring. Smiling to herself as she looked at him, she sighed. It's been such a long day for him. Penelope looked around the apartment, noticing a couple of boxes that must've been from Bernice's house that he brought back. Quietly and carefully, she got up from the couch to get ready to leave. That's when she felt him pulling her arm causing her to fall onto the couch next to him. "You should sleep."

With his eyes still closed, he wrapped his arms around her as they both laid on the couch. "Let's just stay like this for the rest of the night."

Penelope blinked. "Are you sure?"

Luke kissed the top of her head before resting his head on the couch pillow. "I'm sure."

. . .

 **Monday 11:50AM**

"Don't be nervous," Olivia Davis calmly said as she crossed her legs in her seat with a notebook and pen in hand. "It's only our first session together. I won't force yourself to go into much details."

"Shouldn't I start with my training courses first?" Luke asked. When he woke up this morning to a phone call from Prentiss saying that he has to start with the therapy sessions first, it was confusing.

Olivia smiled. "I spoke to Prentiss and we both think it's a better idea for you to start with me first." She wrote down a few notes on his current behavior as she spoke. "I think we both know that you'll easily pass the training courses. Might as well start with the tough patch first, right?"

Luke looked around her office, noticing the degrees on her wall. "I guess." He really can't argue about it since he's already here.

"You lost your parents when you were nine?" Olivia asked.

"Yes," Luke answered quickly. "I rather not topic about that."

"You still blame yourself for their death?"

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "I thought you said you weren't going to force anything that I won't talk about?"

Olivia lightly laughed. "You have a good memory." Writing down another note into her notebook, she leaned against her seat as she looked at him. "How long have you been working with the FBI?"

"Almost eleven years."

"How long have you been with the BAU division?"

Luke folded his hands together. "Next week would be my eighth month with the BAU."

"What do you think of the division?"

"One of the best division there is within the FBI," Luke replied. "The most hard working team I have the pleasure of working together with."

"Even after what happened?" Olivia questioned.

Luke doesn't understand where she is getting with this type of questioning. "What do you mean?"

"You've been with the Task Force for almost ten years and you remained mentally and physically throughout the decade. Your grandmother was perfectly fine." Olivia shrugged her shoulders as she looked at him. "Now, within seven months with the division that you say is the best, it has caused your grandmother's death. Not to mention the damages it probably it has done to you physically and mentally."

 _She has to be joking_ , Luke immediately thought. "Jacob Franklin is the cause of my grandmother's death. He's the one that strangled her. The team had nothing to do with it let alone the division that holds over a hundred agents." He watched as she wrote down on her notebook again. "I hope you reframe yourself from pointing fingers."

"I'm not pointing fingers," Olivia said. "I am simply stating the obvious. If you were to stay with the task force, would you be sitting across from me right now? Would you be going through training again just to retrieve your credentials and gun back?"

"Probably not," Luke truthfully answered. "But that doesn't change the fact that anything can happen when you're out on the field. Despite being in the task force or with the BAU, none of that matters. I could've met an Unsub that had it out for me and wanted revenge. Like I said, anything could've happened no matter where I am within the FBI."

Olivia nodded her head as she adjusted herself in the seat. "There's a huge difference in what you said though." She closed the notebook and looked at him. "Jacob Franklin would've never been on your radar if you stayed with the task force. Didn't he come up under the BAU's watch because he targeted your fellow team member, Penelope Garcia? His main goal has always been Penelope. If you weren't with the team, you wouldn't have gotten involved and Bernice Alvez would still be alive." She opened the notebook again, taking careful notes of the way he was staring at her. "Am I right?"

Having enough of this blaming game that she is trying to pull off, Luke crossed his arms across his chest as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Is this a therapy session for my benefit or for the superiors, who are trying to break apart the team still?" Being a psychologist is one thing but to have a medical degree and point fingers at a group people who she doesn't even know, it's outrageous. "I really don't appreciate - "

"Luke Alvez, the way I am asking questions or talking is simply my own personal kind of way when I speak to clients."

"You have a funny way to speak with your clients then, don't you?" Luke wasn't going to do this. He didn't plan on going in here with an attitude and prejudice against someone who he doesn't know but with the way this session is going, he didn't like it. "Why were you at the motel?"

Olivia laughed. "I'm the one that's supposed to be asking." She pointed her finger over to the degrees on the wall. "I'm the licensed doctor."

"And I'm the trained agent who knows something is up when a complete stranger who knocked on my motel door for a bucket of ice just happens to be the psychologist for the FBI." Luke checked the time on the wall as he cleared his throat.

"I'm also the psychologist who happened to save your career," Olivia stood from her seat and smiled. "Our session is over. I hope that next session will be a lot more productive and calming."

Luke lightly scoffed as he stood up and walked out of the door. As soon as he was walking down the hallway and waiting for the elevator, he took out his phone. "Hey, it's Luke Alvez. I have a favor to ask."

. . .

 **Monday 3:00PM**

Penelope watched as Derek set up the paintings and photo frames onto her wall around the living room. "Thanks for doing this," she turned her head with a wide smile on her face as she picked up Hank in her arms. "Hey, adorable. How was your nap?" She glanced up at Savannah. "Was the bed comfortable enough for him? I just bought it so it must've been hard for him."

Savannah shook her head as she lightly laughed. "It was fine, I'm just thankful that you let Hank sleep on your bed."

"Of course," Penelope made funny expressions so he could laugh. "God, he's getting so big."

"They grow up so fast," Savannah complained. "Makes me want to have more so I could keep holding them in my arms."

Derek's eyes widened as he finished hammering the last picture frame. "Whoa, there. Let's step on the brakes and relax a bit. It's already a handful with this one."

Savannah rolled her eyes as she put the milk bottles away into the diaper bag. "We are having more in the future."

"Baby," Derek stepped forward as he put the hammer away. "Having more in the future isn't a problem, I just think we should pause and really appreciate having Hank with us until he's a kid, like an elementary kid."

Penelope laughed as she played with Hank. "You just miss your sleep."

"I miss it so damn much." Derek whined as he wrapped his arms around Savannah, kissing her on the cheek. "I miss my bed."

Savannah shook her head as she held onto Derek's hands. "What about you, Penelope? How many kids do you want?"

That's the kind of question that Penelope has never thought of. Or even have time to think of something that may happen in the long future. "Let fate decide."

"What does Luke think?" Derek slyly asked before he dodged the pillow that Penelope threw towards him. "I only told Savannah! How are you going to expect me to keep something from my wife?!"

"Luke's seems like a really good guy," Savannah added. "I haven't met him but he sounds like a honest good guy."

Penelope let Hank play with her stuffed animal that she has laying around on the couch. "He is but we barely started dating. A lot has been happening so it would seem crazy to think that far off."

Derek nodded his head in agreement. "Dating sounds perfectly fine for me." He sat down on the couch and sighed. "But if he does hurt you, let me know. I'll kick down his door so hard that no matter how many replacements he buys, it wouldn't work."

"You said he was a good guy!" Savannah laughed.

"He is!" Derek said. "But I have to watch out for my best friend."

Penelope smiled as she watched Derek and Savannah playfully hit each other as they argue over his idea on kicking down the door. She looked down at Hank in her arms, who's happily drooling all over her shirt. It's been so long since she actually sat down and have a conversation for more then two hours. Something that doesn't involve murder or running away. A conversation about families and having babies, it seems so normal that it's so odd to hear it again. Penelope scanned around the living room, she spent most of her time last night ordering things online for her apartment. For the first time, she is surrounded by beige colors instead of sparkling, colorful patterns. She can't bring herself to turn her apartment to the way it originally was, not with the memory of what Jacob had done to that particular room is still on her mind.

"Penelope..."

She returned to reality and looked at the married couple. "Huh?"

Derek cleared his throat as he took Hank out from her arms and smiled. "Savannah and I are heading out. Hank has an appointment for a check up."

She smiled. "Okay," Penelope quickly rushed over to the door, waving goodbye to Hank before she hugged Savannah and Derek. "Thanks for helping out today."

"Call me anytime, baby girl." Derek kissed the top of her head. "When the rest of the things you ordered come, call me. I'll help you set up."

"Thanks." Penelope watched as the happy little family walked downstairs before closing the door behind her. Taking a deep breath, she glanced at every single item in the living room. Shaking her head to herself, she quickly grabbed the trash can and threw every little figurine that's colorful or has pattern on them inside. As soon as she was done, she fall onto the ground with her arms wrapped around her legs - her eyes wide and shaking.

. . .

 **Monday 4:30PM**  
Spencer walked into the diner with his bag around his shoulders and a book in his hand. "It's odd that you're asking to meet here." He sat down across from Luke and smiled. "We could've met at the BAU. Being on suspended leave doesn't mean you can't be in the BAU."

"I know," Luke said as he took a sip of his water. "I wanted to meet you because I think something's weird is going on with Doctor Olivia Davis."

"The witness?" Spencer looked at him. "What about her?"

Luke furrowed his eyebrows. "Doesn't it seem a bit off for a psychologist to randomly be at the same motel as I was and just also so happens to be the assigned psychologist for myself and Penelope?"

Spencer haven't given much thought about it. "It does seem a little off putting."

"Right?" Luke sighed. "I had ask a favor from a friend that works in the psychology department in the FBI. She said that it was surprising to see how Doctor Olivia Davis was so open about taking upon our case."

"Why?"

"Olivia Davis has only been instated into the psychology department in the FBI for a year. My friend said that she didn't interact much with the other people there. She mostly kept to herself when she didn't have clients." Luke took another sip of his water. "She's a psychologist for other agents who has problems on the field or has run into a traumatic experience."

Spencer nodded his head. "Obviously," he looked around the diner before returning his attention to Luke. "What do you want me to do?"

"You're also a doctor," Luke said. "Maybe you can help me find out what's actually going on with her. If my friend also thinks that Olivia has been acting weird as of lately then something must be going on that we don't know about."

"Okay." Spencer immediately agreed. He can't help also feel strange at the fact that she was there at the moment. That must be some kind of timing. "I'll help you."

Luke sighed out relief. "Thanks."

. . .

 **Tuesday 10:00AM**

Penelope sat with her hands fidgeting and her body trembling from the nerves running down her body. She looked at Olivia, who has been silent since she walked in ten minutes ago. "You're not going to hypnotize me, are you?"

Olivia laughed as she shook her head. "No, I'm not licensed for that." She leaned over to take a sip of her tea as she smiled. "I won't force anything out of me since it's our first session together." Placing down the cup of tea onto the table between them, she crossed her legs as she leaned back against her chair. Opening her notebook, she twirled the pen around her fingers as she spoke. "Your parents died when you were eighteen?"

Surprised by the kind of topic that's being asked instead, Penelope looked at her with confusion. "I'm here about what happened to me involving Jacob Franklin. I rather not talk about my parents."

"We should start somewhere easy, right?"

Penelope cleared her throat. "Well, that topic's never easy for me so if you can please change the question or topic."

"It's a simple question, Penelope."

"And it's a simple answer of no, Doctor." Penelope frowned. Just a few seconds ago, this woman had said that she wouldn't force anything out of her. Why is she acting like this? "My parents is a different kind of scenario that's unrelated to the reason behind why I'm sitting here across from you."

Olivia wrote down a couple of notes. "I understand that."

"Good."

"Which is why I feel as if your parent's accident could've triggered something around Jacob."

"What?" Penelope questioned. "No."

"Do you feel as if Jacob had used the weakness involving your parents to attract you?"

"No." Penelope retorted. "That's ridiculous." What kind of therapy session is this? Isn't this session supposed to have her talk about how she feels about the aftermath with this doctor listening?

Olivia looked at her as she tapped the pen against the notebook. "Would you say that your involvement with Jacob Franklin is the reason behind Bernice Alvez's death?"

"No," Penelope said. "Jacob Franklin was a psycho who would've done anything. He's the sole reason behind her death."

"I see," she wrote down a couple more notes. "It's good that you think like that, it's a shame that - " Olivia quickly covered her mouth. "I'm sorry."

Penelope looked at her. "It's a shame what?"

"Nothing."

"It wouldn't have been nothing if you didn't speak up." Penelope couldn't help but feel uneasy again. Just last night, it took her a couple minutes to get up on the floor and lay on the couch to rest. She had come in here thinking that maybe she should share that type of information so she could get better. But why does she feel as if she is about to have more problems on her shoulders as soon as she walks out of this office? "What is it?"

Olivia sighed. "I wasn't going to say this but in order to help you both before your suspension is over, I guess I can share."

"Share what?" Penelope asked.

"My session with Agent Luke Alvez had a bit of a progress. More than I had expected honestly."

"That's great."

Olivia slightly smiled as she watched Penelope's expression carefully. "It is but it seems as if he doesn't think alike as you."

Penelope knit her eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

"Luke Alvez is blaming his grandmother's death on the BAU and particularly on you due to your involvement with Jacob Franklin." Olivia finally said as she closed the notebook.

She couldn't think for a few seconds as she processed the words that had just left Olivia's mouth. "What? That's - " it's impossible. Luke would've never said those words. The both of them has had this type of conversation over and over again throughout the last few weeks. He wouldn't just outright blame the team or her on Bernice's death. And he especially wouldn't share something that deep and personal with a complete stranger just yet. Penelope glanced up from her trembling hands, narrowing her eyes at Olivia Davis. "Who are you?"

Olivia simply smiled before walking over to the door and locking it.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Tuesday 11:20AM**

"Fate can sometimes be funny, don't you think?" Olivia Davis sat back down in her seat, crossing her legs as she leaned against the back of the chair. "Do you think it's fate for you and Luke Alvez to have met?"

Penelope stared at her as if she's nuts. "If you calling bringing in a new agent to replace another who had just left fate, then sure - let it be fate."

"No one else in the team has lost their parents in a car accident." Olivia folded her hands together as she lifted an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Out of eight people who are currently in the BAU, only two have suffered a losses involving a car. Penelope Garcia and Luke Alvez."

"Accidents happens every single second of the day," Penelope concluded. "If you group the whole division together, more than likely a few more names would pop up." She adverted her attention over to the notebook that Olivia had placed down on the table between them. "You got a list of names in there?"

Olivia smiled. "Just information on you and Luke."

"Why are you so invested in us?" Penelope glanced over at the windows, the binds are closed. It'll be impossible for any of Olivia's fellow colleagues to see them. "Is this why you're our psychologist?" She has worked for the FBI for over a decade, she knows how the system would work. The higher superiors wouldn't have chosen a new recruit who barely has two years under her belt as the authorized psychologist for two agents. Especially on a case that is under scrutiny with the public and media at the moment. "Why were you staying in a motel? The same exact motel as Luke when he was on the run?"

"I happened to be there." Olivia said.

Penelope scoffed. "You just happened to be spontaneously there? Just like how you just happened to be chosen as our psychologist?" She leaned over, staring straight into Olivia's eyes. "Even if you lie, under 30 seconds, I will be able to find every single information about you from my laptop."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Go ahead, I have nothing to hide." Olivia took a sip of her drink and stared at Penelope. "Why is it that you both don't like talking about the accident that caused both of your parents to die? Your parents died when you were 18. You've reached the age where you should be able to process through the topic without feeling any kind of emotion anymore." She titled her head sideways with a smile on her face. "Is it because you still feel guilty over the fact that your parents were on the road to look for you? You did stay out longer than originally stated as a curfew, right?"

"Why are you so adamant and focused on the accidents?" Penelope couldn't figure this woman out. Instead of talking about the case that put the both of them in this situation, why is she insisting on bringing up two accidents from the past? "Fine," she finally admitted. "For as long as I live and breathe on this earth, I will still carry my parent's death on my shoulders. But that's called living, isn't it? Just like I have to slowly learn and process on how I am suppose to carry on with what Jacob Franklin has done to me."

Olivia nodded her head. "How long did you lose sleep over your parent's death? What about their last moments before they died in the car? Were you there? Was anyone else there? Did you know that people were trying to save them?"

Are they suddenly back into psychologist and client mode all of a sudden? Penelope stood up from the couch, walking over to the door. "I don't have to answer to you and I will definitely make sure to inform Superior Lillian Young about this." Maybe it's because she spent weeks being on the edge about every little thing but as soon as those words left her, she was actually waiting for the doctor to hold a gun or pose threat. Instead, Olivia just simply sat there and smiled. Is she not going to try and stop her? What was the point of locking the door then? Penelope reached over to unlock the door with her eyes not leaving Olivia for not even one second. Just as she turned the doorknob, Penelope screamed in surprise when the door suddenly opened. Her eyes widened with her arms clenched to her sides, she looked at who it was. "Luke?!"

Luke scanned the office, his eyes lingering on Olivia for a few seconds before adverting his attention over to Penelope. "We're leaving."

"I was about to leave and - "

Olivia finally stood up with her arms crossed. "Should I reschedule our session since today didn't go as planned, Penelope?"

Luke and Penelope immediately answered for her. "No."

"May I join you for a session?" Spencer appeared at the doorway with a brief smile on his face. He made way for Luke and Penelope to leave. "Doctor to Doctor if I may."

Olivia smiled. "Of course."

. . .

 **Tuesday 12:30PM**

"What happened during the session?" Luke asked as soon as he parked the car at a nearby parking lot.

Penelope looked toward the streets, her mind completely processing what happened earlier. "She asked about my parent's death."

"The car accident?" He unbuckled the seatbelt so he could sit more comfortably in the driver's seat as the conversation continue. "Did she also bring up my parent's accident?"

"Yeah," Penelope turned to look at him. "Why is she suddenly asking us about this? Who is she? Even when I asked about the motel earlier, she dodged the question." Clenching her hands out of nervousness, she sighed. "Technically, not dodge but she said she just happened to be there."

Luke furrowed his eyebrows together. "I asked Spencer for help."

"Boy Genius? Is that why he was with you? Did he find out something?"

"I don't know yet," Luke ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. "He's going to try and talk to her and see what's going on. Maybe sense something out. You know Spencer, he's the best at these kind of situations. The whole mind game thing."

Penelope nodded her head slowly as she turned back to face the streets. "You know what's silly of me? I thought I could actually talk to someone about what to do. Someone who doesn't relate to anything that happened to me but I guess it's impossible."

Luke blinked his eyes. "What do you mean?" He leaned over, holding her face in his hands. "What's wrong, Penelope?"

"I cleaned my apartment last night."

"I know," he said. "Derek and Savannah helped you, right?"

Penelope took his hands off of her face, clenching onto it as she spoke. "They did," she breathed in and out slowly. "It was the sight of color and patterns that gave me goosebumps all over. I couldn't get rid of that feeling being stuck in the duplicate room with him. I started panicking and grabbed a trash can, throwing everything in there." She looked at Luke, checking to see if he was looking at her as if she's crazy.

Luke gave her a sorrowful look before leaning over, pulling her into a tight embrace. He's been so caught up about his suspicion Olivia that he hadn't noticed that she looks different today. Instead of her usual attire, she's wearing one simple beige color dress. He didn't even know that she would own any clothing of this color. Luke pulled away, wiping away the single tear that slid down her face. "Penelope, if you need to talk to anyone, you know that I'm here for you."

"I know you are but I don't want to," she paused for a few seconds. "I don't want to burden you."

Luke sighed. "Penelope..."

"Are you willing to share your feelings about how Bernice is gone? It's been barely two days since you buried her. I can see that you're quiet and stress but you're not willing to share." Penelope softly said. "If I share mine, would you?" She can already see that he also doesn't want to share his own pain at the moment. Both of them are stubborn in their own ways, always wanting to deal with certain things on their own. Maybe Olivia was right, somehow the both of them are fated.

"What do you want to do?" Luke asked. "Should we actually sit down and have a discussion over this?" The chaos is over. They should be able to relax and restart their lives especially for Penelope. His pain is nowhere like hers. "I'll do what you want, Penelope."

Penelope adverted her attention over to the windows. "I just want to go home."

Luke opened his mouth to suggest something else but he closed it. Finding it as no use to try and persuade her, he sighed and turned the keys in the ignition without another word.

. . .

 **Tuesday 1:02PM**

"It's a surprise to see you in my office, Doctor Reid."

Spencer nodded his head as he looked around the room, taking notice of how her room was decorated. From one glance, he could see that she took pride of her degrees on the wall. Considering how they're in plain sight for the clients to see. "You just recently graduated, didn't you?"

Olivia smiled. "If you mean recently graduated from my master's degree then yes." She crossed her legs and looked at him. "We're both in the same field, Spencer."

"We actually aren't," Spencer said as he looked over at her desk. "And it's Doctor, please." Spencer cleared his throat. "Why Agent Alvez and Penelope Garcia? What are you trying to display here?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Spencer eyed her. "Trying to break protocol and the line of topic during a session, you do realize that goes anything that you've learned."

Olivia smiled again. "I didn't know that the conversation of their parents would bring up such a problem. It must be a big problem considering that you're here with me, discussing over it."

"You have one minute."

"Excuse me?"

Spencer leaned against the couch. "You have one minute to tell me everything or I will."

She laughed as if he's joking. "I think this little conversation is over now." She showed the direction of the door. "Leave."

"Your parents," Spencer ignored her. "They're also dead, aren't they?"

Olivia scoffed. "I believe that we didn't sign any legal documents to have you disclose my private information like this, Doctor Spencer Reid. You're the one breaking the protocols that you just told me about, don't you think?" She stood up from her seat and walked over to the door. "You can leave or I will inform Superior Lillian Young about this. Maybe she will also reconsider to take back the suspension on Luke Alvez and Penelope Garcia."

Spencer stood up. "I do know one thing, Doctor Davis." He halted his footsteps at the doorway. "I know that you don't want to do anything bad to neither of them. You possibly really have questions for them. But I think your way of trying to discuss a sensitive topic like their parents is all wrong. Think about how you reacted when I brought up your parents. Your reaction is the exact same as theirs, isn't it?" He cleared his throat as he fixed the bag around his shoulders. "I will tell Luke and Penelope that you're not a dangerous person and it's safe to talk to you. I just hope you realize that it'll be better if you sit down with them both and ask what you want in a much proper manner."

"Leave." Olivia repeated.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Spencer said lastly before walking away.

. . .

 **Tuesday 4:20PM**

"What do you mean she isn't dangerous?" Luke asked as soon as he finished listening to what Spencer had to say. "She doesn't seem alarming at all?" He narrowed his eyes at Spencer, genius never lies. "Not even tiniest bit?"

Spencer nodded his head as he took a piece of cake from the platter. He had arrived to Penelope's apartment a couple of minutes ago. Maybe she knew he would come here after talking to Olivia but a whole platter of cake and donuts were on the coffee table. Loving his sweets, he couldn't pass up on the offer in front of him. "She just doesn't seem as if she is good with words."

"She's a psychologist," Penelope said as she walked over, sitting across from them with a cup of tea in her hand. "Words should be her thing."

"Would I ever put the both of you in harm's way? Especially what you just went through?" Spencer took another piece of cake. Seeing as how Penelope and Luke were silent, he clearly made a point. "You know who else would love this?"

Penelope slid the whole platter to him. "Just bring it home. Make sure you share enough with your mom."

Spencer grinned. "Of course."

Luke silently ate his donut as he glanced over at Penelope. Since arriving to her place, they both didn't really talk. In the last hour that he was here, he just sat and read through some books that she had laying around. Penelope kept herself preoccupied by baking. When Spencer arrived, it was the first voice to be spoken. He doesn't quite understand what happened from their brief conversation that could result to this. Is she mad at him? Frustrated with him? He doesn't get it.

"Luke, I'm leaving." Spencer stood up with a bag in his hand. "See you next week when you're both back."

"Bye, Boy Genius." Penelope said before walking over to her bedroom.

Once the apartment door closed, Luke sat on the couch - absentminded on what he should do. Seeing as how she probably doesn't want to talk to him, Luke slowly stood up and grabbed his jacket from the kitchen counter. Just as he was about to open the door to leave, the sounds of sobbing halted his steps. "Penelope?"

"I'm fine." He could hear those muffling words through the pillow she was covering her face on. "Just go."

"No." Luke dropped his jacket and walked into the bedroom. Laying down next to her, he took the pillow away and stared at the tears streaming down her face as she blinked back at him. "What's wrong?"

"I promised to not cry today when I woke up this morning," Penelope muttered. "Everything's over. We should be happy and get going with our lives."

"No," Luke immediately said. "If forgetting everything and get going with our lives were that easy, everyone else could do it." He placed his hand softly on top of her cheek. "But it's not easy and I know that. You don't have to hide your tears from me."

Penelope closed her eyes as she felt Luke caress his thumb on her cheek. "What if I keep struggling and you move on faster than I am? What if I hold you back from continuing your life? When you look at me, you know what I think? As if I'm the reminder that got Bernice killed. If it weren't for me, she would still be alive."

"No."

"Stop saying that." Penelope whined.

Luke smirked at the sight of her whining, it's too adorable to not have a huge smile plastered on his face. "Penelope, look at me." He lifted her head up so she could see him eye to eye. "I don't blame you for her death, you should already know that. What I blame is the bastard that started it all. When I look at you, I don't feel anything but this," he pulled her hand, placing it over his heart. "This is exactly how you make me feel. No matter how long it takes for the both of us to get through the pain and suffering, I will still be here with you."

Penelope stopped crying. "Really?"

"Well, if you're still here with me, then yes." Luke poked her nose as he laughed. "If you leave me, I guess it can't be helped. I'll just have to find someone else - he groaned in pain as soon as Penelope lightly hit him on the stomach. "Ah, my stitches..."

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry." Penelope quickly sat up and lifted his shirt to check the stiches. "Where does it hurt? I completely forget about them! Ah, do you feel if any of them is open?" She glanced up, her eyes shaking. "Luke!"

Luke smiled before he leaned toward her, placing a light kiss on her lips. "I'm fine."

"I hate you." Penelope rolled her eyes and laid back down on the bed.

Laying back down next to her, he carefully slid his arm under her head so she could cuddle next to him. "We should trust Spencer and just believe that Olivia Davis is harmless."

"Something bothered me when I was in the room with her." Penelope quietly whispered as she placed her head onto Luke's chest. The sound of his breathing and the way his chest kept going up and down was calming her down. "She asked if I knew the people that saved my parents."

"She did?" Luke furrowed his eyebrows together.

Penelope closed her eyes, feeling sleepy. "Does it mean anything?"

"I don't think so." Luke glanced down and lightly smiled at the sight of Penelope falling asleep as she wrapped her arms around him. Bringing the blanket over their bodies, he sighed as he closed his eyes.

. . .

 **Tuesday 8:21PM**

Spencer washed his hair with the towel in his hand as he made his way around his apartment. His mom had just fallen asleep and he should also since Prentiss called for a meeting. It'll be their first case after the chaos and their first case to really take upon without the help of Penelope or Luke. Sitting down at his desk to grab a few books to bring to bed, his eyes halted at the newspaper articles that he managed to find earlier. There were two separate newspaper articles that's placed next to each other. Both of which indicates news about a fatal car accidents - one accident that happened 27 years ago while the other happened 18 years ago, a duration of 9 years in between the two car accidents. It was actually two names that stood out to Spencer that had him actually know more about Olivia. The EMTs who arrived at the scene for both accidents to try and save the victims before they died were same people. He tapped his fingers against the table as he read the name again from the articles. "Richard and Rhonda Davis." Putting the articles away, he got up from the desk with three books in his arm and returned to the bedroom.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Thursday 5:30AM**

Penelope pulled the keys off from the ignition as she sat on the driver's seat in silence. _What am I doing_ , she quietly thought to herself as she breathed in and out slowly. This wasn't really an easy decision to make and it wasn't like she hadn't give this much thought over the years. For almost two decades, she has always been pondering if she should do this or that. In an emotional level, she technically never prepared herself to do confront this. She adverted her attention over to the headstones that surrounds her. Can she even remember where her parents are buried? The last time she had visited their grave was when she was 18, two days after the tragic accident. The guilt that she felt during that time was too much for her to handle.

And now 18 years later, she is confronting those guilty feelings again. Shaking her head so she can snap out of this daze, she looked over to the two bouquet of flowers on the passenger seat. Grabbing it as she finally opened the driver's side door, she got out of the car and exhaled deeply one final time. As her steps reached the field of grass, she started glancing side to side, searching for her parent's names. _It has to be here somewhere_ , she thought to herself. After a few minutes of walking around the cemetery, her steps halted at the familiar names engraved on two headstones. Tears immediately brimmed against her eyes as Penelope bent down, wiping clean their names so she could see it better. "Here you are," she said aloud. "I'm sorry for coming so late." She sat down on the grass and placed a bouquet of flowers in front of their headstones. "I guess after everything that has happened, I didn't want to waste anymore time visiting you. I know I should've come sooner." Silence filled the cemetery as Penelope wiped the tears. "I've missed you both everyday."

. . .

 **Thursday 6:30AM**

"Come on, baby!" Luke called Roxy as he continued through the regular path he takes in the woods for a run. As soon as he saw Roxy catching up to him, he smiled. "Good girl! I know it's been a while since our last run but don't slack off on me!" Luke carefully dodged the branches that were sticking out as he ran further into the woods. As he continued the run for 15 more minutes, he halted his steps and sat down on a big rock with Roxy near him. Taking out a couple of treats for her, he smiled as he pet her. "You're being so good." Luke looked up at the rising sun and checked the time on his watch. He can't help but wonder if Penelope is driving back home from the cemetery yet. When she shared that she wanted to visit her parent's grave for the first time in 18 years, he was completely shocked. Maybe it due to the several death experiences but she seemed adamant about the decision. Even to the point that she didn't want him to tag along. He technically wasn't shocked because she wanted to go but the fact that it took her 18 years to do so.

Someone like Penelope, he had assumed that she would've visited the graves plenty of times throughout the years. Luke is definitely learning something new about this woman as each day goes by. He stood up from the rock and started stretching for the next run when his phone suddenly rang. "Hello?"

"Luke."

"Penelope?" Luke double checked the watch again and furrowed his eyebrows. If she came back home then she must've had a short visit. "Are you back home?"

"No." Penelope leaned against the driver's seat as she sighed. "Can you meet me somewhere?"

Luke bent down to pet Roxy softly. "Sure, where?"

"I'll send you the address."

Ending the call, Luke waited for the text to come through as he slowly paced himself out of the woods with Roxy panting behind. An alert was heard and he opened the message up. "What..."

. . .

 **Thursday 7:20AM**

Penelope watched as Luke pulled his car into the sidelines of the road. She softly smiled to herself at the sight of Roxy in the backseat with her head dangling out the window for fresh air. Getting out of her own car, she met Luke halfway and immediately wrapped herself into his arms.

Surprised by the sudden embrace, Luke smiled. "Did you share what you needed to with your parents?" Feeling the little nod from her on his chest, he cleared his throat and looked around the road. "Why did you want to meet here?"

Pulling away from the embrace and facing the ongoing cars that were going by them, she shrugged her shoulders. "This is where the accident happened," she muttered under her breath. Sometimes when she drove on this exact road, she tries not to think too much about what happened here. For the first time, she has outspokenly explained what the road actually is. Today is a lot of first times for her. "Where my parents died."

Luke blinked his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, he backed slightly away as he stared at Penelope. "This is where they died? This exact spot?"

Penelope looked at him. "Yeah."

"Penelope..." Luke could feel goosebumps all over his skin from the shock. "This is where my parents died too. 27 years ago, at this exact spot."

"What?" Suddenly, Olivia Davis's words started ringing throughout her ear. Fate, it's fate. Could this be what she meant? "18 years ago, this is where my parents died."

Luke lets out a small scoff in disbelief. "What kind of fate is this?"

"The kind of fate that would catch the attention of a supposedly harmless psychologist..." Penelope answered.

"Do you think this is what she meant?" Luke asked.

"It's the only reasonable reason possible but why would it matter to her?" Penelope replied. "What if Spencer knew this and he didn't tell us? He said he wanted Olivia to tell us since it's her business and he doesn't have the rights to share."

Luke couldn't shake the chills away. The fact that both of his and Penelope's parents died at the same exact spot for the same exact reason, there's nothing else to feel but chills. "I'm not the only one that's freaking out over this, right?"

Penelope leaned against his car with her eyes wide. "I mean," she watched as Luke crossed his arms across his chest as he tapped his foot onto the ground repeatedly. How is it possible that their predicament is like this? "Do you believe in fate?"

"Fate? That's hard to say." Luke furrowed his eyebrows together as he thought about the word fate in his head. "It's almost like coincidences. How much in one lifetime can that actually happen?"

"For me?" She thought about the numerous times where her life was flipped upside down due to certain things. Sometimes when she's alone, she thinks about to that year when she got shot. During that moment, she remember she felt confused and totally out of it on how could something like that happened to her. Nowadays, she views it as a life lesson. If she hadn't gotten shot, maybe she wouldn't have become the person she is. Granted, what she recently went through is ten times worse but it has given her so much to learn. As she stands here and realize the situation that she and Luke shares, nothing can be considered as a simple coincidence any longer.

Luke glanced down at Penelope when he felt her hand reaching for his. He softly smiled at her intertwining their hands together as she leans her head onto his arm. "You're surprising me a lot today, Penelope Garcia."

She stared at their hands and smiled. "I believe in fate."

"You do?"

Placing her chin on top of his shoulders, she stared straight into his eyes. "Look at us, Alvez. We both lost our parents at this same exact spot. Almost two decades later, we meet at the place we both work. I think fate planned something for us and we're slowly going to understand it." Penelope clenched onto his hand tighter. "So we can be happy and move on."

Luke looked at her. "Is this the same Penelope that I spoke to on Tuesday?" He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "As crazy as this is, I think we have another mystery to solve before we can truly move on and focus on our happiness."

. . .

 **Thursday 10:10AM**

Olivia glanced away from the paperwork on her desk and over to the sound of knocking on her door. She watched as the door opened with Penelope and Luke walking in, hand in hand. "I haven't scheduled our next session yet."

"We know," Penelope said. "We're here to talk to you. Informally. Not as psychologist and client."

"I don't know if I can do that," Olivia insisted as she closed the files before standing up, crossing her arms as she looked at them. "What is this about?"

Luke sat down on the couch. "It's about the fact that you knew about our parents dying on the same exact spot with a duration of nine years difference before us."

Olivia knit her eyebrows together. "How'd you find out?"

"By luck," Penelope answered. "Spencer didn't share anything with us if that's what you're wondering." She watched as Olivia slowly made her way over to her chair to sit across from them. "Since the information is known, do you mind sharing on how you knew?"

"Not really."

Luke isn't liking this kind of game that she is trying to pull off. "You do realize how easy it will be for Penelope to search up old articles of our parent's death, right? If I am assuming right, there will be a connection with you and we will find out. The only reason why we're not doing so is for Spencer."  
Olivia lightly scoffed. "If you want to look up those articles, go right ahead. The words of Spencer Reid shouldn't stop you. Here is what I want to know. After 20 so years, did any of you even bother checking the articles at all?"

"See," Luke glared at her. "That little attitude you have going on, I don't like it. If you were making efforts to be in the same motel as I was and become our psychologist, you obviously want the both of us to know the connection. What? Now that we are closer to the connection, you don't want to share?" He watched as Olivia's smile vanished the more he talked. "For someone who committed probably a good part of her life to stalk us like this, you sure don't seem motivated enough once you're closer to the goal."

"It really baffles me how you both think your lives weren't the only ones affected by your parent's death." Olivia finally revealed.

Penelope looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Richard and Rhonda Davis." Olivia sighed. "Does that ring a bell?"

Luke furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Penelope to see if she knew, she had the same exact expression like his. "Davis? I can only assume that they're your parents."

"They're the EMTs that both responded to your parents accident." Olivia said softly. "They spent all their efforts on trying to save your parents and when they couldn't, they carried that guilt all the way to their death."

Penelope is really starting to get scared by the word fate now. "Your parents tried to save ours?"

Olivia leaned back against her chair. "Exactly 27 years ago, Rhonda and Richard Davis responded to a late night emergency from their ambulance. What they found was a crying little boy in the backseat, screaming for his parents to wake up." She paused and took a look at Luke, who looks as if he has a pained expression on from the memory. "They cut the seatbelt that he was stuck in, pulled him out and hurried off to bring his parents out of the upside down vehicle." She clenched her hands together. "Richard Davis pulled out Eric Alvez out of car first. The first thing he checked was the head and the rest of the body. He knew that the stranger had passed away a long time, it's almost an instinct. But that didn't stop him from trying to perform CPR to him. The same goes for Rhonda when she pulled Maria Alvez out of the car. Those two continuously tried their best on performing CPR and carried the constant guilt in them when they had to call the death time."

Luke felt incredibly uncomfortable at this point, he has never heard about the aftermath of the accident. The last thing he remembered was a blaring light and two people stepped out of their cars to finally help them. Were those two strangers Rhonda and Richard Davis all along? "You said they carried guilt until their death?"

"Every single day since the accident," Olivia adverted her attention over to Penelope. "And it only got worse when 9 years later, your parent's accident occurred."

"Are you blaming us for what your parents felt?" Penelope questioned. "As far as I know, they shouldn't even feel guilty. They should be comforted at the fact that they had tried to save despite their efforts." The idea of blaming people for the accidents has never occurred for Penelope. Besides blaming herself, who else should she blame about her parent's death? They left the safe walls of their home to go find her. There is no one but her for the reasoning behind their death.

"Well, you don't know my parents." Olivia argued back. "They carried every single emotion heavily upon themselves. That job was their lifeline and when somebody died under their watch, it affected them slowly and painfully."

Luke narrowed his eyes at her as she avoided his stare. "How long has it been since your parents died?"

"They died a year ago."

"How?"

Olivia scoffed at the irony of the whole situation. She exhaled deeply before adverting her eyes over to the window as she answered. "Car accident."

. . .

 **Thursday 3:29PM**

JJ watched as Spencer paced back and forth in the bullpen. "What's happening?"

"It's our first case since Garcia's incident."

"And?"

Spencer looked at her. "How are we supposed to get things done without her? She gives us the answers, she gives us new findings. We can't do this case without her."

Tara arched a curious eyebrow. "Is our favorite genius starting to have doubts on solving a case without Garcia?"

"That's not what I meant," Spencer corrected himself. "What I mean is how are we suppose to work on this case without a technical analyst?"

Emily walked into the bullpen, her packed bag ready to go. "You don't have to worry about that. The FBI has recently brought someone in for the job."

"Who?" Rossi asked.

"Me." Timothy Wells walked into the room with his laptop and wide smile plastered on his face.

Completely shocked at the sight of Timothy Wells, the local tech analyst that Derek had brought in for investigation in the beginning of the previous case, standing in front of them like this. "Timothy? He's an official FBI now?"

Emily nodded her head. "Pulled a Hotch on this one." She can already imagine how the higher superiors will probably react but as of this moment, they need someone and this is the best she could think of. Considering how Hotch brought Penelope in for the job because of her amazing skills, Emily thought it would be appropriate to bring in Timothy for a couple of days. Especially since they needed someone that had half the skills as Penelope's. "He'll be working with us until Penelope gets reinstated back."

. . .

 **Thursday 8:19PM**

Penelope dropped her bag onto the floor before collapsing onto the couch. She feels as if she is in such a daze. How can things end up like this? After weeks of torment and self blame, she thought that the idea of a psychologist can probably ease her mind and heart. Now, she had just found out the world is actually a lot more smaller than she believed.

"Are you alright?" Luke handed her a cup of tea before settling down on the couch next to her. "It's a lot to take in, huh?"

Penelope sat up, taking a sip of the tea. "It's not that it's a lot to take in." She looked at him. "I feel as if this world keeps getting smaller, more suffocating at times." She took a deep breath before placing the cup of tea on the coffee table. "Doctor Davis blames us for her parent's death. She literally believes in her mind that the guilt her parents carried inside before their death is the reason. How are we suppose to convince her that it isn't?"

"We don't," Luke said softly. "She has to learn how to deal with their death in her own way. Like how we did - " he stopped and cleared his throat. If he has to be honest, none of them probably dealt with the death properly. "Penelope, dealing with death isn't easy. I mean, I'm happy right now but I can be devastated the next minute. Sometimes when I think of my parents, I think about the childhood and teenager years that they missed about me. And when I think about my abeula, I keep missing her food and the way she used to nag about me getting married and have babies." Luke took her hand and softly smiled. "We can't try to convince her to stop hating or blaming us. I think Spencer's words affected her a bit and maybe that's why she was a little apprehensive about sharing anything anymore. To her, her parents were heroes who saved people. And the fact that her parents died due to the same reason as most of their victims, she is stuck between comforting herself over their death and blaming people who didn't try to save them."

Penelope closed her eyes, leaning her head against his shoulders. "So, it's true. Olivia Davis is harmless. She's as lost as we are. Facing death is never easy. Losing a person isn't easy let alone two people who meant the world to you." She opened her eyes and stared at the wall in front of her. "These last few weeks has been really hard to process."

"I think you just need a more proper time for yourself," Luke suggested. "You spent most of your time in the hospital and on the case. Technically, the last two days has been as hectic as the others, considering how we were really cautious about Olivia." He intertwined his hands with hers, softly caressing her hand with his thumb. "How do you feel about a vacation?"

She briefly laughed. "We kind of are. If you can think of a suspension like that."

"No," Luke turned her around so they could face each other. "An actual vacation. You keep saying the world is a lot smaller than you believed. Well, maybe it's because we're stuck here. Let's leave the states for a couple weeks. Be together and experience a few things around the world. Forget the rough memories here so we can enjoy our time properly."

"Luke," Penelope is really happy with his suggestion but they can't just leave everything here for a few weeks. "You have FBI training to get you officially reinstated. You can't miss that."

"I can always do it when we come back." Luke shrugged his shoulders. "Superior Lillian never really said a deadline for us to do all of that." He took out his phone and started searching resorts or places that isn't in the US. "We can go to an island and just relax by the beach. Or maybe - "

"Luke..." Penelope knit her eyebrows. "Are you being serious right now?"

He nodded his head. "I am."

"Are we seriously leaving everything behind for a couple of weeks to spend time together?"

Luke put down his phone and smiled. "We don't have to if you don't - "

"What about Roxy?"

"I can give her to the animal day care, they provide extra care like that. She won't mind, I don't think so."

Penelope pondered on the idea for a few seconds. It's not that she didn't want to but the idea of leaving the team on their own a bit longer than they originally had planned, it's alarming. Earlier, she had gotten a text from Spencer that the team had brought in Timothy Wells, a guy she has no idea about but it seems as if Spencer isn't happy about it. "Luke..."

"Listen to me, we don't have to. I promise. Maybe we can just spend the next few days between your apartment and mine."

. . .

 **Thursday 11:20PM**

"I don't mind." Emily said through the phone as she walked into the hotel's building, meeting up with the others as they had just arrived to the case's city. "Don't worry about us. We'll be fine." Hanging up the phone, she stared at her team and smiled. "Looks as if we'll have to keep Timothy with us for a bit longer."

Spencer looked up from his book. "Why?"

"Luke and Penelope had just decided to go on a much needed vacation out of the states." Emily informed the team.

Rossi smiled. "Well deserved."

"What about their training and sessions with the psychologist?" Tara asked.

Emily shrugged her shoulder as she put away her phone. "I'll deal with Lillian on my own."

Stephen chuckled. "Of course, you will. The Prentiss Way."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh. You don't know?" JJ laughed along with the others as they walked toward the reception desk to check into their rooms. "We call the way you handle the superiors, The Prentiss Way."

Not giving up on finding out the reason, she narrowed her eyes at the team. "Why?"

. . .

 **Friday 7:00AM**

"You ready?" Luke asked one more time as he held onto her hands. They had just finished retrieving their tickets and going through security. In a few minutes, they'll board the plane and leave this place for three weeks. All the horrible memories and pain that Penelope had went through, this is the chance for her to relax and slowly understand herself again. For him, it's a time where he'll use to properly adjust himself since Bernice's death. "Penelope?"

Penelope slowly nodded her head as she clenched onto his hand and their passports and tickets with her other hand. "I can't believe we're actually doing this."

"Me neither." Luke smiled. He looked around as soon as the intercom came up, informing their flight number are now boarding. "It's time."

She sighed and started moving toward their gate. Penelope briefly looked down at their hands, it's something that they've been doing a lot lately. There hasn't been any kissing or anything more. Holding hands seems much more right at the moment. She watched as Luke moved aside for an elder to go ahead in line for the gate. The way his chocolate brown eyes are glistening against the sun, the way he keeps smiling as he watches the kids in front of them run around. Every little thing that he has been doing, she notices them. And slowly, she starts realizing that she is falling more and more with this man. This three week vacation will officially be their first time being completely alone, spending continuous time together and experiencing new things. As they reach closer to the gate and the attendant who were checking their tickets, her heart beats a bit faster than the last second.

Luke felt Penelope tugging his arm. He turned around to face her and to his surprise, she leaned forward - kissing him softly on the lips. As soon as she pulled away and smiled at him, he softly made _tsking_ sounds as he shake his head. "You're really surprising me a lot this week."

"Imagine how these three weeks will be, Alvez." Penelope giggled.

He arched an eyebrow. "Challenge accepted."

They reached the flight attendant and Penelope handed over their tickets and passport. "Thank you, have a lovely time."

Penelope and Luke smiled at each other before thanking her. With just five steps, they walked through the gate to start their official vacation.


End file.
